Ascension
by SmileysBasis
Summary: The four Inner Senshi are sent to the Bleach world in hopes of destroying an enemy out for the Ginzuishou. Hell ensues when they get separated and run into Soul Reapers, then find that they have a common enemy...
1. The Dimensional Web

**Ascension**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story.

* * *

The reddish-orange patterns stained to Makoto's wrist, hand and fingers created a sort of disillusioned wonder land of swirls, curls and dips for the bored girl. As of late she'd been highly uninterested in the fractious meetings continually held at Rei's shrine. The persistent bickering from her closest friends and the inimical remarks spewed from the Outer Senshi's mouths only encouraged more fighting and less resolve. Usually she'd be the most effusive one battling against Haruka's sharp tongue or Michiru's staid yet cold comments. However, one day, when she received an especially harsh lashing from Setsuna, her inputs faded into the background and she let Rei's fiery temper and Minako's continuous berating fuel the conversations. 

She pulled subconsciously at her khaki shorts, only now aware of how much of her legs they really showed. She liked them but they were small, too small. Clicking her tongue in shame that she'd have to get rid of such a cute pair of shorts, Makoto turned her unenthusiastic gaze back to her hand. She imagined a tiny stick man riding a stick horse over the lumps and twists generated by her henna tattoo.

Her ears perked as she heard a comment aimed in her direction but chose to ignore it and continue on with her little fantasy. She'd call it 'The Heroic Adventures of Kiki'. Yeah, that'd be it. It wouldn't even be a guy on the horse, it would be a girl. A young heroine fighting for the freedoms, justices, and liberties of women all around the world against the patriarchal background of an ancient Japanese society! Kiki, the lone rider. A smile came easily and she could hardly restrain a giggle bubbling on her lips. The three silver rings on her fingers would be the three castles dominated by the evil Japanese emperors; the biggest one on her middle finger would be Kiki's final destination…

_I should be a novelist_, Makoto thought as she propped her head up on a perched palm, and fixed her tank top's black strap from hanging off her shoulder to resting securely on it. _Or at least a children's book writer_, her thoughts continued as she looked out of a nearby window. 

Her thoughts about Kiki's ride on grasses as green as the ones outside Rei's temple came to a halt when the voices inside the room rose to such a level that it was almost impossible to ignore. Refusing to turn her head from the outdoors, Makoto instead shifted her eyes towards the three standing Senshi. Rei and Haruka were in each other's faces again and Usagi stood between them with a worried frown. 

"Will you all just shut up, please?" she demanded. With such a wavering voice and such pure intentions imbedded in her eyes, the Senshi of the future queen silenced themselves. All eyes turned to her as if expecting some sort of compensating speech, something that would calm their nerves and put each one of them back on level, but hot headed, terms. The silence that ensued, however, was uncharacteristic and set Makoto on edge. As of this moment she was nonplussed and so were her fellow Senshi as well as her future queen. Everyone's eyes stayed glued to Usagi as if fearing one shift might cause the newly formed balance to crack or break. 

Not being so exposed to the conversation, Makoto was the first to turn her eyes away from her distraught princess and back towards her day dream about her newly created character. The tension built up between them was climbing to a new high and with a new enemy steadily revealing themselves the urge to go out there and train was all too overwhelming. 

"Just… please." Even Usagi, now, was at a loss for words. The continuous debates and squabbles were even getting to the most optimistic of the entire collaboration, as she could see Ami's face flushed with frustration as well. The princess's feckless plea went in one of Makoto's ear and out the other, however seemed to have some sort of effect on the other Senshi. 

Senshi business was becoming tiresome. It was becoming tiresome, pitiful, harmful, distracting and the antithesis of what the Senshi of Jupiter had once thought of it as. She was becoming _bored_ with her duty, _bored_ with her friends, and_ bored_ with this destined life she was supposed to lead. "I want change," she mumbled, more to herself than for anybody else to hear. Makoto felt her ears and face burn with redness as all eyes turned to her.

Usagi tilted her head to the side. "What did you say, Mako-chan?" 

Makoto turned her head even farther away from the group in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. "Nothing," she recovered, waving a hand in their direction, "just me not paying attention."

"Your attention," Haruka began, and Makoto could tell she was trying her best to lay rest to the callousness in her voice, "should be directed towards this meeting, not towards whatever's distracting you."

The brunette knew that Haruka was trying to be as calm and polite as she could, given the circumstances, but Makoto could hardly restrain her cavalier remark before she turned back towards the window with her peerless gaze. "Oh. I was unaware we'd made any progress."

Before Haruka could respond, there was a shifting from the floor as Ami readjusted her position. She touched the bridge of her glasses farther up her nose and cleared her throat, a known trait of the bluenette when she had something to say. Pushing her hair behind her ear in a discreet fashion, she folded her legs under her butt and clasped her hands within her lap. Eyes closed, she began. "Enough is enough." 

The perplexing beginning to her speech was enough to get the three Senshi standing to slowly take their seats as silence ensued again. Ami continued. "These vicissitudes are clouding our judgments and beliefs in one another and what we stand for. Such brazen and deleterious remarks will get us absolutely nowhere and are goading us down roads we don't want to, and don't have to, take. Have we fallen so far that our ideals and morals have become buffeted by our craven feelings and fatuous mistakes? If so," from her pocket Ami pulled her blue wand and placed it on the wooden floor before her, "then I officially abjure my position as Sailor Mercury." 

The eyes of each Senshi widened in both surprise and fear at Ami's bold statement. "Ami, no," Usagi pleaded, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. Standing from her seat she padded over to the blue haired Senshi and took one of her hands in her own. "Please, don't."

Ami lightly, and politely, took her hand back from her princess and held it up, as if to say, 'let me finish'. 

"If not," she continued, turning her eyes from Usagi and looking at each and every one of her supposed comrades, "then I say we find some rational and pragmatic solution _around_ this debacle, not over it or through it. The bonds between us have been dissipating, I know you all have seen it," she said grimly, "And the reasons stemming from this weakening are pitiful and ridiculous." Her voice rose an octave as her words lost their shyness and passion took its place. "We're supposed to be warriors of truth and justice who uphold some sense of honor, respect, and trust, yet we've betrayed each and every one of these." 

It was clear she was trying to hold them back, but the curse of tears now made their way into Ami's eyes and she took off her glasses to wipe the droplets away. "The way we treat each other is unbearable and if giving up the one thing that's truly ever made me feel useful, powerful, or sanguine will solve this situation then so be it. I'm not the diffident girl I used to be, but if I need to revert back to her to escape this pathetic display of teamwork, then so be it. If I am the only one with the audacity to calmly and graciously state my disposition, then so be it!" she cried as she banged one fist on the floor beside her. With the collection of both anger and sorrow within her wavering voice, the words that Ami spoke caused some of the Senshi to look at her in a new light and a new respect. 

"This group, then, of so called warriors for truth and justice is more pathetic than I thought, and I am extremely abashed to be a part of it or affiliated with it. So make your decision now, because I'm making mine." Her voice rose even higher now and cracked with the anger of a woman in fury but with the pain of sorrow as well. "Either exercise the rights and powers we've been given for the correct use, with the correct intents, as either _friends_ or _associates_, or desecrate such a blessing with continuing this pitiable display of egos and destroy something so precious that we've so graciously been given."

The room was unbelievably silent as each girl stared at Ami in different levels of awe. Her air of confidence seemed to diminish as she truly realized that she'd gained each and every person's attention. Eyes cast towards the ground, she wished that somebody would say something. The only sounds she heard echoing in her head were not the bickering cries she'd heard before, but rather, and only, her own brave words.

Ami wished she hadn't cried during her presentation because such a display meant some sort of weakness. Luckily for her, the tears seemed to add a certain something to her vibrant display of character. Her entire speech had been extemporized, she'd hardly planned on officially offering to renounce her position as Sailor Mercury. It was just… something about all of the fighting crept under her skin and fed words to her mouth. 

Usagi looked at Ami with a new sort of respect. She'd always known that Ami's acknowledged trait was her smarts, that was obvious with her unbelievably high scores and adamant studies, but to personally be on the receiving end of such a demonstration of pure and utter command of words gave the princess goose bumps. For some reason she felt so…_beneath_ the blue haired Senshi.

Taking Ami's hand again, Usagi looked into her eyes with a sort of determination. "Ami-chan," she said softly, as to not harshly break the air of silence, "I solemnly swear to exercise my powers only for good and for anything that tries to do harm to this planet." She grinned, giving Ami's hand a sort of pat. "This is who I am, this is what I do. This is what _we_ do, and we're all a family." She got a sort of lopsided, silly grin on her face as she continued. "We may just be in the family reunion stages," she started counting things off of her fingers, "we haven't seen each other in awhile, we're learning new things about each other, we just don't agree with each other on certain terms…" Ami giggled. "I can't quite use all of those big words like you, but I can say it in a sort of dumbed down version." 

Ami could hardly restrain her smile as she looked towards the wooden floor of Rei's temple. Usagi just knew how to turn a situation around, she was the light of their lives, the light of this entire universe. In relation to any sort of perverse being Usagi stood out as an angel, a beacon of hope amongst wickedness and, in this case, the glue that kept their so-called team together. Ami figured this only because she saw how Haruka's eyes softened at the sight of her giggling princess and Michiru's frown was turned upside down, transforming into a small smirk. As well, Minako was beaming and Rei… well, Rei just didn't look so angry anymore. 

The brainiac grinned, putting her free hand atop Usagi's hands grasping hers. "Family," was her single word commitment as she and her princess made eye contact. Ami was her first Senshi, and Usagi couldn't help but feel a sort of deeper understanding coming from the blue haired girl, such an affinity was hard to break.

"Family," Usagi responded. 

Such a display of deep friendship and affection was broken as Setsuna pushed herself from the wall she'd been leaning against and stood now, instead of in a dark corner, in the center light of the room. "While it's good we've now recognized that we're some sort of established team," she said in her quiet, yet demanding voice, "I suggest we entertain ourselves with answers to the problem at hand."

Her remark was quiet yet peremptory and caused even Makoto to turn her eyes back towards the group in a certain determination to find an answer. Setsuna's efficacy over the rest of the Senshi caused Usagi to shiver and, momentarily, question her abilities as a head over her friends. 

Usagi reached out and grasped Ami's wand in her own hands, feeling slightly strange at the odd power that pulsed through her body. Goosebumps rose to her flesh for the second time in ten minutes as she handed it to the mousy girl beside her. "Now, there will be no need for walking out on this group," she stated, "We're all in this together here, and we need each other. So you three," she pointed to the older Senshi sitting opposite her and her Inner court, "No more hints of separation."

Reluctantly Michiru nodded and Haruka slowly followed suit, though her expression held more of a halfhearted acceptance. 

Setsuna's stern voice filled the room once again. "If our recommendations of separation are now null and void then the only option is to stick together," sitting down, the Time Keeper crossed her legs as well as her arms. "However, having eight people, assuming Mamoru-san is considered into this equation, following you around all day may seem a bit suspicious."

Usagi frowned and opened her mouth to respond but paused when she heard Rei's smooth voice interject. 

"I understand what you mean, Setsuna, however I don't necessarily think we need to be around each other twenty-four seven." She crossed a finger over her chin. "School will have to be our time apart. If the enemy strikes during those hours then we have a situation on our hands, but for the time being I think we can handle ourselves. I'm by myself at T.A.," she pointed to the Inners, "You all are at Juuban, and you three," she pointed to the Outers, "have jobs."

"While that is a problem," Ami cut in, "it's an issue, for the moment, that we just have to deal with. Concerning after school," she continued, the discomfiture from her speech slowly waning from her voice, "I suggest we meet in a variety of places at different times. I believe it is imperative that we're together in our free time, no matter how suspicious." 

Haruka shook her head, blonde flakes of hair falling into her eyes. "I'd have to disagree," she announced. "They already know who Usagi is. If we follow her around in every moment of our spare time then all of our identities would be revealed. Then how effective would we be?"

Minako frowned, the deep lines uncharacteristic on her face. She was addled. "So then are you saying that we should just," she waved her arm dramatically over Usagi's head, "_leave_ her all by herself for the taking?"

Haruka's frown matched Minako's in an instant. "That's hardly what I'm saying," she said in requital, voice rising. "I'm just trying to elaborate on the fact that we'll be ineffective as a _team_ if we serve our identities to them on a silver platter!"

To avoid more problems, Michiru put her hand on Haruka's shoulder. "Calm down, love."

With a frustrated sigh, Haruka roughly shoved her fingers through her hair in an attempt to soothe her nerves. "I'm not trying to be a separatist here," she began, trying a different approach, "but I'm trying to be rational. Usagi," the young blonde looked up at the mention of her name, "first I suggest we really try to delve into what these people were trying to say to you. You said they first showed up in a dream, correct?"

"Right," Usagi nodded. "I remember that he had slicked back hair, brown I think. And his eyes," she bit her lip with a sort of staid expression that was so unbecoming of the Usagi they saw every day, "they held such a cool confidence and power that the answers he demanded were almost impossible to deny—"

"—Wait," Michiru interrupted, halting the next words on Usagi's tongue. All eyes turned to the water Senshi as her usually kind gaze turned skeptic in a flash. "You never said anything about questions or answers, Usagi-chan," she quietly pronounced, gripping her skirt with her free hand in anticipation.

Usagi immediately blushed. Oh goodness. She'd made a mistake. She felt little gentility in Michiru's voice and almost immediately became shamed of her ignominy. Her stomach clenched in sudden fear. She'd forgotten. She'd completely and totally forgotten about his demands until this very moment. 

"Umm… I didn't?" she questioned even though she knew the answer. She turned her gaze immediately to the wooden floor in a sort of accepting expectancy of harsh comments of her stupidity. What she'd anticipated came, but it wasn't so cruel or unsympathetic.

"Usagi-chan…" came Rei's worried voice from above her on a chair. The blonde closed her eyes, ready for some sort of verbal torture from her friend and was truly surprised when she felt a hand placed on top of her head. "What sort of things did he ask?"

The blonde blinked, only slowly recovering from her expectation of rude comments. "Um…" she stammered, not able to immediately find her words. "Well, at first he just asked me how many of us there were." 

"And did you tell him?"

"I felt inclined to," she responded.

Rei's hand never left her head, and Usagi never turned around to face the Miko. "What else did he ask you?"

Usagi bit her lip and chewed it like a chew toy. "Well…" she mumbled. "He asked a lot about how good my grades were."

Rei blinked uncharacteristically in a sort of stupidity.

The room fell silent. 

Minako cleared her throat. "Y… Your grades?"

"Yeah."

Ami looked confused. "No offence Usagi-chan, but why on earth would he want to know about your grades? They aren't even that good." The ice princess could hardly believe that a new enemy would tackle such an issue. A strange image popped into her head of a dark man questioning Usagi like a therapist; _And how are your grades, Usagi-san? Do you do well in school?_ For some reason the sight irked her. 

Usagi frowned. "I resent that!" she called out. "I may not be an A student but at least I've pulled it up to the C, B- range," she pouted, sticking out her lower lip in an over dramatized display of hurt.

Rei rolled her eyes. "Focus, Usagi-chan, focus," she tried, only to be the recipient of a comeback of 'I'm focusing, I'm focusing you question Nazi'. Giving a glare, the long haired youth decided to ignore the annoying comment. "Why would he question you about your grades?"

Giving a sigh, Usagi pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin in the crevice of her knees. "Like I'm supposed to know. Maybe he was trying to butter me up or something. He kept asking me about you guys, actually. Especially you, Rei."

"Me?" Rei asked in surprise. 

"Yeah, he seemed really interested in you. Definitely groping at the fact that you're a Miko. Maybe he had some sort of fetish…"

It was hard for Rei to ignore this comment when Minako burst into giggles. "So are you saying that this new enemy is hitting on Rei?" she asked, only sending herself into another wave of giggles. "How rich. He doesn't even know her! Wait until he sees her temper." Minako's grin was feral as Rei whipped her head around quickly.

"Hey, Minako."

"Yeah?"

"Shut the hell up."

"Oh, touchy."

Haruka had had it. "Enough," she interjected, cutting off Rei's retort to the bubbly blonde. Turning her head slowly from the squabbling teens and back towards her grinning princess, she asked, "What sort of other questions did he ask?"

Usagi scratched her eye and yawned. "Well, he also really wanted to know about the Ginzuishou—"

"How much did you tell him?"

Usagi blinked fiercely at Setsuna's quick exclamation. An odd feeling coursed through her body and the young blonde felt that she'd performed wrong in her attempt to be witty and enigmatic with their new opposition. With Setsuna's comment the entire room fell into a sort of sedated quietness. The anxiety in her voice lead to the belief that there was something that she knew, but wasn't telling them. 

Usagi frowned and timidly responded to the intimidating woman. "Well, not much, seeing as how I don't really know much about it myself."

The Time Keeper nodded, leaning forward as if she were now on to something. "Did he ask you about any of us?"

Usagi put a hand to her head and scratched. "Well now that you mention it yeah, he was kind of adamant on getting information on Ami-chan, Mina-chan, and Mako-chan too."

Ami frowned. "Speaking of Mako-chan… she's been rather quiet."

All eyes turned with Ami's towards the table where Makoto sat. Her head was placed awkwardly in the tangled basket her arms created and her breathing was smooth and slow. She was asleep. 

A cloud of tension built in the room as Haruka skeptically eyed Makoto's sleeping form. She'd looked tired when she came into the meeting, but sleeping during such an important gathering was agonizingly unacceptable. "Are you serious?" the short haired blonde announced loudly, almost as if she were trying to wake up the slumbering Senshi of Jupiter. 

"Don't wake her."

The comment was expected to come from Usagi's mouth, but the dual comment was equally unexpected to come from Setsuna. Haruka's brows furrowed and she stared at her comrade in a sense of betrayal. Setsuna did not look back at her but Haruka knew that the Time Keeper was able to sense her confused eyes burning into her. The fact that she didn't look back struck something within Haruka. The bleak illusion that Setsuna would do anything to harm the Senshi as a whole, drained the thoughts of unfaithfulness to the Outer Senshi from her mind. There was so much Haruka wanted to ask.

"Don't ask questions, just do no wake her." 

Once again, the depth of knowledge that Setsuna exuded caused each and every Senshi to heed her orders. It was almost as if it were an automatic reaction when the Setsuna said anything that the Senshi would almost instantaneously become obsequious to her every word. In some cases it irked Haruka that one Senshi could hold such power over the others, but the fact of the matter was that almost every statement Setsuna made in occasions such as this was pithy. Almost always her suggestions were incontrovertible thus she, and the other Senshi, refrained from waking Makoto. 

Ami seemed addled by the Time Senshi's ominous remark but refused to question her and waited for the explanation to ensue.

"We're dealing with a whole new level," Setsuna began, face imbued with controlled worry. She folded her hands in her lap and evinced her hidden knowledge. "This might be confusing at first, so I'll go slow," she said, flicking a strand of long green hair over her shoulder. "However, I will not repeat myself." The room grew quiet and grim as Setsuna began. 

"My duty is to guard the Gates of Time where, if in possession of a key, one is allowed to travel through time. While you've traveled through these gates, there are things about the vast internal structures of it that you haven't, and never will, experience." She place her hands under her chin. "This is really not allowed, but considering the circumstances I have no choice.

"There is an area inside of the gates called A-47 where all of the times of different places within our world are intertwined."

Rei's eyes flashed to the green haired Senshi. "Our world?"

Setsuna did not look up from the wooden floor and did not acknowledge Rei, however the Senshi stared at her now in both concern and disbelief. 

"Next to area A-47 is area C-76. Area C-76 is where the times of different worlds, different dimensions, are intertwined. Each Time is connected in someway with another dimension and it's also part of my job to make sure that those connections don't falter. Each Time is represented by a sort of translucent string, and absolutely none of them touch. If this were to happen then the two dimensions would eventually merge and become one." Setsuna paused for this to sink in.

"I am not the only Keeper of Time. I look over our dimension and make sure that things like the Black Moon do not happen. Together, with the help of many other people, I also help to prevent the merging or interference of different dimensions. The other Time Keepers and I never associate with each other, and we never meet because each of our dimensional webs are located in our own dimension. It was your mother, Usagi, who told me this."

Usagi felt her throat tighten at the mention of her late mother. The information coming from Setsuna hardly met with normality in her brain. Other dimensions? Like, there could be a place filled with rainbows and butterflies, and happy people…or uh, happy other beings? She nodded for Setsuna to continue. 

The Time Senshi's eyes became hard now and she clenched her fist. "I thought I felt something last month and went back to the gates to check on area A-47. There was nothing wrong so I proceeded to area C-76, where our line and another line were too close for comfort. If I had not known better I would have said that they were touching. Our line, however was still placed correctly in the Dimensional Web, but the other was not. This means that somebody in that dimension was strong enough to tamper with our dimension and I believe, Usagi, that it was that man in your dream."

"Are you saying that the Ginzuishou is so powerful that enemies from other _dimensions_ are trying to take it from us?" Michiru asked, perplexed beyond all belief as to how such a thing could happen. 

Setsuna's nod was curt. "Yes."

Minako stared skeptically at Setsuna as the rest of the Senshi started to mull about. Her brain was just beginning to come to grips with this outrageous assertion but there were too many questions unanswered. Too many questions that she now believed could not be answered by Setsuna. "Why were we not to wake Mako-chan?" 

The room stilled and fell silent and Setsuna finally turned her attention to somebody. "We've had troubles with this time line interfering with ours before. Somebody there seems unyielding in their efforts to obtain the Ginzuishou. Twelve years ago the lines briefly touched."

Ami's hands shook with slight fear. "What?"

"It was enough to allow something through. Four monsters appeared: One in Ontario, Canada, one in Canberra, Australia, one in Paris, France, and the last was here, in Tokyo. I managed to exterminate them all with as little damage as I possibly could, however there were casualties. Two of them were her parents."

Usagi placed a hand to her mouth in surprise and Rei's expression became more grim. The dark haired Miko now knew what Setsuna was getting at. She'd already told Makoto about area C-76 and about the time lines. 

"One; I've already told her and two; she's not really asleep." 

Minako blinked. "Say what?" she asked as she got up and walked cautiously over to Makoto. Leaning over the brunette's shoulder she was confronted with a sheepish smile. Frowning, Minako slapped the girl's shoulder in both mock and true anger. "You're unbelievable," she growled, trying to hide the smirk edging at her lips. 

"Sorry," was her only response.

Rei couldn't help but feel importunate anger bubble in the pit of her stomach as she stared on at Makoto. The attitude of the Senshi of Jupiter had been rather mercurial as of late and it annoyed Rei to no end seeing as how they were in the middle of a plight. She'd become flighty and boring and rarely paid attention to their meetings anymore which were an integral part of the Senshi relationship. She'd have confronted her by now but Rei knew that Makoto was as obstreperous when it came to control as she was. "Why were you faking sleep, Mako-chan?" she asked.

Makoto ostentatiously yawned. "I was tired so I put my head down."

Rei stood up so fast that her chair toppled for a few moments, leaning precariously on its legs. The dam holding back her fury snapped. "Why have you been so cavalier lately?" she questioned, body rigid with anger. "We're in the middle of one of the most dangerous situations we've ever met with, and you're trying to separate yourself from the group! You're so immature Makoto."

Usagi stood and placed a hand on her shoulder trying to placate the infuriated Senshi's temper. "Rei-chan, please calm down," she pleaded. 

Minako looked back and forth between the feuding Senshi and saw that Rei's guileless outburst was provoking anger in Makoto as well.

"What, was that some euphemism for bitch, Rei?" Makoto bit back.

"I swear to goodness, Makoto—," Rei began, taking a step towards the girl before Ami stepped in front of her and put a firm hand to her chest and the other to Makoto's forehead, who'd stood at Rei's advancement.

"You two can't be serious right now!" she exclaimed, embarrassed for them. "Did we not just have this discussion? BOTH of you are being immature and we need helpful and mature people to handle this situation. So if you will, please sit down and shut your mouths so we can continue with figuring out what the hell we're going to do if our world is consumed by another!" With an exasperated huff, Ami gave each of them a shove as she sat back down in her spot and folded her hands. "Now Setsuna," she continued, ignoring those who were staring at her, "what do you suppose we do about this problem?"

Setsuna's visage went from temporarily stunned at Ami's interference between the two Inner Senshi, to stoic in a matter of seconds. "There's only one solution," she provided quietly, earning the attention of her audience once more. She eyed each of the girls before her and idly wondered if she should have just gone and fixed the problem herself. That would have been impossible, however, because the man in the alternate dimension already knew who Usagi was. 

"And that would be?" Michiru asked, gripping Haruka's hand in anticipation.

Setsuna let loose a heavy sigh. "The only way to prevent such a problem would be to confront it ourselves."

"Which means?" Rei asked, though the answer was already firmly imbedded in her mind.

"We must enter the alternate dimension to eradicate the dilemma."

* * *

There'd been a long stretch of fighting between the Senshi as to whether or not Usagi should enter the alternate dimension. Eventually it was decided that she wouldn't, and would stay behind, instead, with Haruka, Michiru, and the budding Hotaru to protect her. This left the Inner Senshi to tackle what they called 'the issue abroad'.

"I can only take you into the gates, like I did when you traveled to the future," Setsuna began. "Queen Serenity told me that, if in dire need, the safest way to enter would be from inside of the gates. Go left," she instructed, "instead of going forwards like to the future." She stared hard at the four Senshi entering the dimension. 

"Hold hands tight and do not let go," she demanded, emphasizing this harshly. "Unlike going to the future, I will have absolutely no way of finding you, you could be lost in another world." She watched as they fidgeted nervously but had no sympathy for them. "When the strings are brought together you will see an opening. Enter it as quickly as possible," she said, then reiterated, "as quickly as possible. If the opening is left awake for too long then it could cause a tear in the dimensional walls and make it easier for this enemy to reach Usagi-chan, and even announce your presence in the world."

Each of the Inner Senshi, fully transformed, nodded and pulled on their backpacks, filled with the fundamentals. "When you get there, the rest is up to you. Communication will be sparse, and most likely through dreams, seeing as how I am not physically allowed to enter another Time Keeper's domain. Understood?"

They nodded.

"Good. Then let's go."

Goodbyes had already been said and only hello's waited for them in the future.

Venus stood holding Mars's and Jupiter's hands as Setsuna thrust her staff in the air and called for the gates to open. She wished she would have said goodbye to her mother or Artemis, or even a bigger goodbye to Usagi as she recalled what Setsuna told her earlier. 

"_Don't die, Minako,"_ she'd said, _"if you die in another dimension I'm not sure the Ginzuishou will be able to bring you back."_ She'd been amazed that Setsuna had disclosed this information to her and her alone, when the Time Senshi had continued. _"Spread the word to the others when you reach your destination, but do not tell anyone else. It could spur unnecessary things."_ And she hadn't. Only now she wished she had.

Before she knew it, Venus was inside of the gates, the ferocious winds buffeting her face as she gripped Mars's and Jupiter's hands tighter. _Left_, she remembered and steered her friends in the correct way. On the path they almost lost Mercury twice, but held onto the smaller girl before seeing a small white opening. 

"Quick!" Venus called, pulling her friends as hard as she could towards the light. They stepped through and the winds disappeared, the hole behind them closing and enveloping them in a white cloud of nothingness. 

It was impossible to breathe. The pressure was so unbelievable that Venus tore her hands from Mars and Jupiter to grip at her throat in terror. Her body felt like it was caving in and it began to jerk with lack of oxygen. Venus looked down to see Mars, Mercury and Jupiter in a similar situation, although Mars and Mercury were still connected by their hands.

_Hold hands tight and do not let go._

Venus's eyes widened and gripped Mars's hand tight as their dissention began. She could see that they'd made it to the alternate dimension as the cutouts of a city formed beneath them. She reached out her left hand to grip Jupiter's but the girl was nowhere in sight. At this she panicked and looked up, seeing that she was falling slower than them, due to the heaviness of three people versus one. 

She couldn't hear anything as the wind rushed around her ears. Jupiter's helpless cries were lost and all Venus could remember was one of her best friend's pleas as she drifted away from them.

_Please find me…_

She made a pact with herself and vowed to find her. They were already in the dimension and near their destination which meant that Jupiter would not be lost in another world or on the opposite side of this one. _I'll find you_, she mouthed back tiredly, and the last thing she remembered was Jupiter's smile of thanks before she drifted into unconsciousness.


	2. The Descent

Chapter Two: The descent

**Ascension**

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Chapter Two: The descent

It was like being devoid of feeling. Eyes sewn shut in what seemed like eternal blindness, Rei could not see a thing. Her arms were wound tight around her legs, pulling them tightly to her chest in a forced fetal position. She was encased in a sort of thick fluid; it flowed through her body, her lungs, her eyes, the very blood in her veins. It was her life support.

The only thing she could think of to name the slick substance was _embryonic._ She succumbed to its nourishments and felt it grow warm with motherly affection. Before she could fully absorb the balmy care the case began to drain, pulling her to the bottom in a slow suction action and drawing her to the unseen floor.

The warmness of the case imbued with _embryonic_ fluid flowed out and in gusted a cooler, lighter air. Once the case had reached equilibrium Rei could move her limbs, twitch, grasp some of the thick, gooey substance in her fingers. Her body lurched, now devoid of being surrounded by care-giving sustenance and the fluid oozed from her throat and mouth.

She pushed herself up and heaved, fluid mixed with vomit pooling before her unseeing eyes and onto her splayed fingers. It dripped leisurely from her nose like a child with a cold and eventually the seal on her eyes began to dissolve. Rei, however, waited to open them. Her naked body shivered, _embryonic_ fluid still coating her in a light sheen, as her clouded mind began to clear the fog.

_It was…_

Her lungs caved as a pressure built in her chest, momentarily putting a hiatus on her ability to breathe. Her body jerked with the necessity of oxygen, begging for a breath. That yearning was lost, however, when a heat enveloped her body, not outside, but inside. It bubbled and flowed within her, pushing all desire for air aside. It felt like power, raw and unearthly power…

_Rebirth._

"Rei!"

She awoke startled, quickly realizing that the pressure in her head was from the lack of oxygen. She gasped hard, sucking air into her lungs so quickly that her chest burned and she began to sputter.

"You weren't breathing," Ami said worriedly, absentmindedly picking at a few blades of grass that tickled the tips of her fingers. "I woke up the same way."

Rei placed a hand to her aching head, panting, trying to regain some sense of balance yet failing miserably to do so. The world around her spun and it was impossible for her to grasp anything in her confused state. She held up a hand, not precisely knowing why she did so, but it was the only action she could come up with to convey silence. Her other hand stayed fast to her forehead trying to suck the pain from her brain.

"It goes away in minutes," Ami explained as she placed a hand on Rei's shoulder and the raven haired priestess smiled with thanks. Ami could never cease to amaze her with her constant altruism

"Thanks Ami," she voiced as the buzz was already beginning to dissipate. "This mission wasn't contrived very well," she complained angrily, standing and taking a shaky look at their surroundings. They were on the bank of some river, its waters shallow yet deep enough to drown.

Minako nodded in agreement. "We went in with too much cursoriness." She frowned, feeling a bit of responsibility since she was supposed to consume the role of leader amongst her inner Senshi. She should have said something, should have asked to form a more concrete plan before blindly sending themselves into a suicide mission. It was funny how only when they landed in the alternate dimension that she questioned what she was actually supposed to _do_. "We don't know where we are, what we're supposed to do and for the life of me I can't get my wand to appear."

At this Rei paled. In quick desperation she flicked her wrist slightly, hoping to feel the hard materialization of her symbolism for hope. No wand appeared however and no power fizzled in her palm. Initially shock washed over her as she realized that they were stuck in an alternate dimension with no power. She opened her mouth to express said alarm when a realization came over her.

She made eye contact with Ami and knew that the brainiac had had the same epiphany as she had.

"The dream," they said together, smiling at the unison of their voices. At Minako's confused glance, Ami decided to explain.

"I'm guessing you had the same dream as Minako and I had before we woke up," she first said to Rei, and at the priestess's brief nod, she continued, "I'm assuming that that was some sort of transfer of power." She placed a hand to her chin and Rei and Minako knew that they were about to be subject to Ami's unguarded conceit. "The first warmth we felt was our Senshi powers, contained, something we knew well enough to use it with our eyes closed. To be analytical," she murmured, smiling a bit at the use of her scholastic abilities in Senshi business, "the fluid was the containment, the comfort and our Senshi abilities."

"I'm confused," Minako confessed, throwing up her hands in defeat. Though she first had a sort of grip on the situation, Rei couldn't help but agree with her blonde haired friend.

Ami hummed. "Well," she said, "if the fluid and the warmth resemble our Senshi powers and control of such powers then you have to realize that both the fluid and the warmth disappeared."

Minako's interested demeanor faded quickly into incredulity. "You can't be serious?" she cried. "Are you saying we've lost our powers?"

"Yes and no," Ami explained. "You have to realize Mina-chan that we're not in our dimension anymore. Our _Senshi _powers do not exist anymore. No longer can we transform into our alter ego's because the affinity we had with our planets back home does not exist here."

Rei leaned forward. "What are we going to do without our powers? How can we possibly face off against ineffable dangers without reasonable defense?" Ami did not respond and chose to ignore her comment.

"Do you remember the second warmth?"

The two nodded.

"That, I believe, is what I mentioned first, a transfer of power. Instead of being contained within our wands or stretched between the relationships with our planets, all of our unbridled power has been forced within our bodies. The container isn't our wands anymore, but rather," she waved her hands in front of herself, "us. It's become a sort of spirit energy, if you will."

"So then this headache and the pain were side effects, symptoms of this 'transfer of power'," Minako supplied, placing her hand to her stomach. Now that Ami had explained her hypothesis it was like a dam of realization was unleashed. She could feel the power surging through her body in torrents.

"And how to use it?" Rei asked, looking down at her palms.

"Unfortunately beyond my comprehension."

Rei nodded, she'd figured as much. "While this is an issue we have to come to terms with soon, and I mean soon, we have more pressing issues at the moment. Like Mako-chan."

* * *

The descent was hard and fast. It was unfathomable how she possibly could have survived such a fall but since she'd blacked out on the way down, the reason she was still alive was unbeknownst to her. The dream that had claimed her mind blurred away in a puddle of unknown. She'd hit her head somewhere in the midst of the plunge and could only faintly comprehend her surroundings.

Vision unstable, the shapes of towering sentry-like trees muddied the landscape, accompanied by the blooming growth of hazy flowers. Makoto groaned and tried to push herself at least to her knees. Her efforts were weak, however, and, at the trickle of warm blood down her neck, she knew she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. She halted a groan in the depths of her throat at the spinning headache and pain that cultivated her mind and body.

She felt as if she were in a dream of swirling colors fading in and out of her mind. This made it all the more confusing when a pair of sneakers appeared before her eyes. Was she hallucinating? She moaned and reached for the sneakers, aching to feel some sort of concrete evidence that she hadn't somehow died and gone to heaven, that she could actually feel something tangible.

* * *

Orihime squealed as the girl before her reached for her shoe. "Tatsuki!" she cried to her nearby friend who was ambling down the hill. Taking her hands from her pockets, Tatsuki looked over her shoulder lackadaisically at her best friend's shrill call.

"What is it, Orihime?" she asked as she walked over to the busty girl. She was leaning over a girl who currently occupied an awkward position on the grass. What caused Tatsuki to raise a curious eyebrow was how the girl kept reaching for Orihime's shoe, said girl yelping and taking a step backwards each time.

Feeling a little overprotective Tatsuki pulled Orihime backwards behind her and leaned over the mumbling girl. It was dark out, and who knew what kind of people lurked outside at night? "Is she drunk?" she questioned aloud to herself, only partially catching a glance at the red stain trickling down her neck. "She's bleeding!"

Orihime blinked. _Bleeding? _She asked herself, leaning over Tatsuki's shoulder to where the short haired girl pointed. "Should we take her to a hospital?"

Tatsuki gaped. Sometimes the extent of Orihime's unselfishness confused and amazed her. "What if she's on drugs? She doesn't look quite sane. In fact, she might be contagious with something, maybe we should just walk away…"

"Tatsuki!" Orihime chastised, giving the girl a light slap on her shoulder before lightly shoving her to the side. "It doesn't matter either way. If someone is in need of help, then we should help them." Consequently, at that moment, Orihime pulled the weak girl to her knees and slung one of her clammy arms over her shoulders. Looking back she pinned Tatsuki with a meaningful stare. "Are you going to help?"

* * *

Makoto awoke to the sound of bickering. Her head swam with pain and a frown picked at the corners of her lips. At first she thought she'd been passed out on her couch and woken with the full throttle of a migraine. The memories of the meeting, the Time Gates and the fall hit her fast, followed by a strong wave of pain. And then there was the incontrovertible fact that she was in another dimension. Alone.

She shot up, almost immediately regretting the decision as the pain in her temples rose to an almost unbearable level. There wasn't a worse situation (at the time) that she could have thought of. She was separated from her friends in a place where she had no knowledge of her surroundings or the inhabitants.

She was about to sit up, slower and more controlled than last time, when the whispers from around the corners reached her ears one again. It sounded like females but, being in a different _dimension, _who knew what other sort of being it was. One of them was speaking in harsh, low tones and the other one, though battling back profusely, spoke in a softer sort of voice.

Makoto was only dully aware of her surroundings; a picture of a brown haired boy in one corner coupled with a little shrine and the couch she was lying on were the only things that managed to catch her eye. Her thoughts, however, remained on the whispering beings around the corner.

Suspicion engulfed her mind. The writing on some books near the shrine was in Japanese. Had they not left Japan at all? Or had these 'other dimension folk' captured her, created an illusion of familiar surroundings, and plan to eat her later on? Her guard went up when the voices started to move from the tiny connected kitchen and in Makoto's direction.

"This was dangerous, Orihime," she heard whispered. "Why couldn't we just take her to a hospital or something? We should have at least taken her to Ichigo's…"

"Tatsuki…"

Their names were even Japanese. Either they hadn't fucking left Japan at all or these people were really good. The voices crept even closer and Makoto panicked. Ignoring the throbbing pain threatening to destroy her brain she leapt from the coach just as two girls turned the corner from the tiny connected kitchen.

"Oh!" One of them yelped, a small busty redhead, and was immediately pulled behind the other girl. She looked well muscled and immediately took a stance which Makoto recognized. She was skilled.

Crouching a little Makoto took a tentative step backwards, hands twitching with anticipation. "Who are you?" she demanded, cursing her raspy voice. She hoped they couldn't decipher the pain laced with her words. "Where am I?"

"Who are we?" the dark haired girl asked, crossing her arms in anger. "Who the hell are you? We found you moaning and groaning in the park like some lunatic. Are you a drug addict?"

They even _spoke_ Japanese.

Makoto was very confused

However, at the sudden accusation Makoto's shock overran her confusion. _What the hell?_ Caught off guard, her mouth dropped open. "D-drug addict?" she stammered. "What kind of—" She held up her hand and ceased the curse that was going to come out of her mouth. "No I am not a drug addict."

The awkward silence that ensued caused a pocked of suffocation to engulf Makoto's throat and for a moment she forgot how to breathe. She missed her friends, there was no way she could sense them and she was all alone now with two crazy girls that thought she was a drug addict.

The only thing she craved at the moment was the comfort of her friends, to see Rei's cool smile, Ami's kind eyes or Minako's bubbly spirit. The thought that none of these passions might ever be witnessed again caused an unwanted tightness in her throat.

This ultimately reminded her that she needed oxygen. Slowly she began to breathe.

"How is your head?"

Makoto's eyes shifted from the furious, protective looking girl to the smaller one behind her. She had a strange resemblance to Usagi in the way that she looked at Makoto with a genuine kindness and a sort of joviality that was hard to achieve. But then again, she was in a different dimension. Who's to say they don't invite you into their house, turn into aliens, then bite you're head off when you least expect it?

Ignoring the question, Makoto knew her own question in return would most likely confused, or scare, the two girls before her. She put herself out on a limb and asked it anyway. "Are we in… Japan?"

The darker haired girl threw up her hands. "That's it, Orihime! She's crazy!" She took long, strong strides to reach Makoto, who consequently backed up even further and held up her hands.

"Wait!" she cried.

_Think fast, think fast._

"I was mugged!"

At this, the dark haired one paused. Her eyes shifted quickly to the dried blood on Makoto's neck and her eyes softened for a moment. This show of kindness, however, disappeared as she stared inquisitively at Makoto once more.

Makoto could swear her own heart was beating a mile a minute. In all honesty she was excited, this whole situation turned on 'survival mode' and the basic instincts and raw nature of continued existence rushed through her veins.

An ingenious story popped into her head. Thank goodness she'd been spending more time around Ami lately.

"You see, my parents died in a plane crash when I was really young." That was something she could say with true honesty. "My uncle took me up after the accident."

For some reason the red haired girl looked at Makoto with a fleeting glance of understanding, then shifted her eyes back towards the ground.

"He recently died and his second wife, that witch of a woman," it was hard for Makoto to keep a straight face through this fabrication. At first she'd thought it ingenious. Now it just sounded plane dumb. "Well, she sent me out here to live with my three cousins, whom I've never met before," she tried not to smile, "Ami, Minako, and Rei. Only problem is, since I was sent out here with little money and little information I'm kind of in a pickle now that I've been mugged." She put on her best 'hurt' face and her inclination towards seriousness returned. She then said the truest thing she could have then entire night.

"I have nowhere to go and I don't know what to do."

The dark haired girl gave her a skeptical glare and all Makoto could do was stare passively back. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Funny how roles could change quickly.

Makoto shrugged her shoulders. "I guess you don't."

* * *

It was almost like they were dead.

Usagi could not feel one trace of her inner Senshi and the bothersome fact itched at her mind for the rest of the day. If she hadn't known that they were in another dimension she really would have thought that they were gone. This was another worrisome thing. What if they did die? How would she know? Would she be able to get them back?

All of these questions consumed her mind and the mediocrity of her Senshi team against Galaxia when she first arrived also played out. What if they were too weak? Questions like these burned into her consciousness and she found that she would never be able to live truly happy if one part of her heart, if one of her friends, disappeared.

A hand touched her head and she could smell Michiru's perfume.

"We're leaving, Usagi-chan," she whispered, setting a glass of water on the table by the couch her princess was sitting on. "Please try to get some rest. Have trust in them. If not from you, then where will that external strength come from?"

The question floated around in her mind for a mere moment before being lost with the other myriad questions that surged through her brain. "Everything will be okay," was Usagi's only response. She looked up and gave Michiru a steady smile.

"Right," the water Senshi said, less enthusiastically. With a pat to Usagi's head, she and Haruka left.

Usagi wrapped the blanket around her tighter and stared at the TV, not really comprehending the anime show she was watching. All she wanted was movement, something distracting and noisy to keep the empty house from seeming so lonely.

All she wanted was to get warm…

Curl up…

And fall asleep…

Her eyelids grew heavy almost as if her wish had been granted. Funny, she hadn't felt tired before Michiru left… but soon a weighted darkness fell upon her.

* * *

_Usagi…_

Her lip twitched.

_Usagi…_

There was a vision of a cool and calculating smile and fierce eyes. His deep voice reverberated in her dream.

_I'm back, Usagi…_

* * *

"Usako!"

Usagi, startled, jumped from her sleeping position on the couch and grasped at her breast, clutching at her frantically beating heart. Her beady eyes shifted around the room until they landed on her worried looking boyfriend. His eyes were knitted together and his lips turned down in a frown.

"I've been trying to wake you for ten minutes," he place a soft hand to her head and it was almost like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Are you alright?" He saw the tears in her eyes. "Usagi?"

"Call Haruka and Michiru."

Mamoru pulled out his watch. "Usagi it's two o'clock in the morning."

She shook her head vehemently. "Call them now!"

The room was quiet for a moment as Mamoru stared at her in a sort of staid coolness. He put a hand to her forehead and felt her skin burning up. Only problem was, instead of being flushed, her face was unbelievably pale. He knew what was going to happen next and grabbed a wide vase that was sitting on the table next to the couch, chucked the flowers to the ground along with the water and held it under her chin just in time to catch the vomit that spewed like a faucet from her lips.

This had happened the first time that man had contacted her in her dreams.

"Mamo-chan…" she groaned before unleashing another wave of vomit. At first he thought she was hyperventilating when her shoulders began to shake. However when clear tears mixed into the vomit in the vase he recognized she was crying. Her body shook and she let out the most horrendous cry he'd ever heard her scream. "They're going to die," she wailed, face contorted into an ugly mask of sorrow and pain before she threw up once more into the vase.


	3. First Petty Banter

**Ascension**

**Chapter Three: **First Petty Banter

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Bleach.

* * *

Haruka stared passively out of the large window to her right. Her chin remained propped up by her left hand and her right hand twittered idly with the straw to her milkshake. It wasn't as if she were devoid of emotion, it was just that too much had been occurring, to many unanswered questions were being proposed and forgotten about, and no one seemed to question the strange happenings. That and it did happen to be three o'clock in the morning.

Mamoru had called them in a hurry, the duress in his voice obvious over the phone and Haruka could have sworn she heard Usagi softly crying in the background. Her thoughts had been confirmed when Mamoru spat out that Usagi had been contacted again by the mysterious dream man, only this time he'd sent Usagi a message that it was inevitable that her friends would die.

Haruka and Michiru had hurried over to Mamoru's apartment, still wiping the sleep from their eyes as Usagi, despite her disheartened and messy look, asked them to go out with her for a milkshake. It was an obvious maneuver to suppress her sadness and the stress loaded onto her shoulders and Haruka's first inclination was to tell her no but Michiru had beaten her to it. She volunteered Haruka for the job, saying that she and Mamoru would decipher what answers they could from Usagi's dream. And that's how Haruka ended up drinking a milkshake at three o'clock in the morning.

Usagi had been downright depressed since her friends left. It wasn't an outright depression that just any person off the street could have caught. It was subtle and despite her clumsiness and seemingly dumb nature she was uncharacteristically good at keeping it restrained. She'd been much quieter and though she made and laughed at jokes she never got that fiery retort going that she used to with Rei. Haruka moved her cool blue eyes to her princess who remained sitting across from her, sipping slowly at a strawberry milkshake.

That was the other thing. She started to eat _slowly_. If anything, this is what bothered Haruka the most. Usagi's hand delicately held the glass and her lips tugged sluggishly on the straw. As if she could feel Haruka's eyes on her she looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"What's up, Haruka?" she asked placidly, taking another sip of her melting milkshake. At the short haired blonde's questioning glance she deemed to explain. "You were glaring at me."

Haruka's brows rose suddenly. "My bad," she apologized. "I was just thinking about something else." It wasn't a complete lie but it wasn't the complete truth either. Usagi pulled her mouth from the straw and a glob of strawberry milkshake fell directly into the lap of her flowered dress. She stared at it for a moment before erupting in giggles, those empty, hollow chuckles that she'd been emitting ever since her closest friends left.

It was completely disheartening and Haruka couldn't stand it. Pushing her vanilla milkshake away she pinned Usagi with a harsh glare. Said girl didn't realize it until she'd wiped the glob from her lap. Looking up she paused when she realized Haruka was giving her a mean stare. Usagi opened her mouth to speak but the older girl cut her off.

"You should have more faith in them, you know," she almost growled, crossing her arms over her chest. Her glare stayed steadfast on Usagi's now startled eyes. "It's not like they're amateurs Usagi-chan. They've lived their whole lives for you, it's their job if they ever had one."

Haruka realized later that perhaps those weren't the correct words to use when Usagi's eyes shifted to her fumbling fingers in her lap. Her eyes shifted left and right, smiling at the occasional passerby who glanced in her direction. Her blonde brows knitted together in worry as she swallowed. Usagi looked uncertain of herself, she looked as if she hadn't really wanted to talk about the subject Haruka was bringing up. She turned her head away momentarily before swiveling back towards Haruka with a new flush to her cheeks.

"Why should they live their lives solely for my purpose?" she asked with more vigor than she had in a while. Haruka smiled.

"They are your bodyguards, Usagi-chan. Why do you think they are in a different _dimension_ right now, risking their lives for you? It's because an enemy is threatening the one thing we all hold most dear." At this Usagi closed her eyes and placed her face into her soft hands. "You, Usagi-chan."

As much as Haruka hated playing the sort of devil role on the team she realized that she was the best at it, she held an air that would allow people to pardon her for saying things she maybe hadn't ought to. "Don't let their risk be in vain. " Immediately Haruka wanted to take back her words, those kinds of statements didn't fit her, they were much too sappy.

Giving a sigh she reached her long fingers over the shiny table and grasped one of Usagi's hands from her face. "We're all integral pieces to this puzzle, Usagi-chan. They must go to protect our world from an external threat, we're hear to keep the key to this world safe from that intruding external threat and you, little Usagi, must remain healthy and happy because if your walls start to crumble who knows how this new enemy may take advantage of you?" she gave her princess's hand a squeeze. "You are the key to this puzzle and it can't be finished without you."

Usagi looked up. Her eyes still looked sad but there was a minute sense of resolve floating in them. A new pinch of hope swam in their watery depths and her lips twitched into a shaky smile. With a sigh she took a sip of her milkshake.

Haruka secretly grinned and gave herself a mental pat on the back. Job well done.

* * *

Mamoru sat unnerved in his chair. The library was a quiet place with dimmed, warm lights and plush seating for the curled up reader. It was almost strange how many people were there at three o'clock in the morning. Students sat hunched in chairs, papers strewn messily over dark wooden tables as their shadowed and hooded eyes now moved slowly down lines over and over again. Mamoru shook his head, knowing in the pit of his stomach that he would have been in the same position, working on his paper about fifteenth century Venetian mercantilism, if he hadn't been there to figure out a different mystery.

He couldn't get the night out of his head. Usagi had been calm in her sleep, but she'd been mumbling nonsensical words, things that had no correlation to each other and that sounded like gibberish. When he couldn't wake her up he began mentally cataloguing the words while still trying to release her from what seemed like a nightmarish sleep.

He rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses and tapped a pen on a pad of paper, earning annoyed glances from the shadowy students pulling all-nighters. He ran a hand through his hair and sat back in a frustrated hunch. On the paper he'd written down all of the words he could remember that she'd said. They weren't Japanese, that was for sure, and he was pretty sure they weren't English, a language he'd been learning for quite some time. Pulling the pad into his lap he looked over them again.

_Arrancar, Espada, Menos…_ had she said _Grande_ or was it _Grand Day_? Was it Lochness or… something else? And what on Earth was _Hueco Mundo_? He continued down the list; _Hierro…_

He sat for a few moments, pondering over the strange words his girlfriend had mumbled in her tortuous sleep. Now that he put it all together it sounded less like gibberish and more like a concrete language… but what? Mamoru sat for a moment to think, but it was hard to do so when there were two girls chatting away, though silently, behind him. He inherently wondered why he was the one to receive the glares with his tapping pen when these girls were babbling like children.

He tried a few more minutes to think but the talking behind him set up an invisible wall in his brain. Heaving out a sigh he turned in his chair to give them a firm talking to when he actually heard what they were saying. In front of them were a mass of papers and books strewn across a table. Obviously the two were working on something, but it looked as if at the moment it was break time, seeing as how they had leaned away from the table and were turned towards each other. They didn't look Japanese and they certainly weren't speaking Japanese. One had curly brown hair and caramel colored skin. Her eyelashes were thick and she had a thin face. Her friend looked similar only with pin straight black hair. Mamoru paused when he heard a fragment of their conversation.

"_Iliana me dijo que el novio suyo quiere hacer_lo _todas las noches…"_

"_De veras? Dios mio, ella necesita salir es—."_

"Excuse me," Mamoru interrupted quietly, sticking a hand out to pause their conversation. "I was just wondering if—"

One of them placed a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry," she said softly in perfect Japanese, "were we speaking too loudly?"

While Mamoru wanted to say yes, that was his initial reason for speaking to them in the first place, he shook his head and smiled at them politely. "No, I was just wondering where you two were from. The language you were speaking was quite pretty." He watched with a sort of depleted outlook when they looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

"We're from Mexico," one explained, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. "This is Andrea and I'm Lupita, we were speaking Spanish," she said politely, contrasting their previous dumbfounded looks. "We're here on an exchange program."

Mamoru put on his best fake, flirt smile and leaned forward. He could see the one called Andrea return the flirtatious gesture. "This may sound strange but I heard you say something like 'too-das las now-chez'." He knew he'd butchered it but he also knew that was the only way to let them warm up to him; let them teach him something.

Andrea laughed. "No, that was _todas las noches_. It means every night." She gave a little bat of her eyes and crossed her legs. "Why do you ask?"

"Every night?" Mamoru repeated, trying to avoid her last question because he hadn't formed a completely solid answer yet. "So does las noches mean night?" he questioned.

Lupita scrunched her face a little. "Well, sort of. It's plural, as in more than one night but basically yes, it means 'the nights', I guess. It's hard to make a direct translation."

Mamoru smiled, gathering up his things. "Of course, of course," he said, standing from his chair and looking towards the doors that led to other parts of the library. "Thank you so much for your help," he said and began to walk away, leaving the two exchange students to stare after him, confused, before resuming their conversation.

So it hadn't been Lochness that Usagi had said… It'd been _las noches_…

Usagi had been mumbling words in _Spanish_.

But why?

His legs moved quickly and Mamoru reached the area he'd been looking for: the foreign language section. He really could have just stayed and asked those two women for the translations he needed but honestly that probably would have entailed getting to know them more and spending more time with them; things he didn't really want to do, and plus, he had a girlfriend, he didn't want to lead them on any more. Pulling down a large book he sat down for a few moments and looked up the words he'd had written down on his pad, translating each one until he was done.

When he'd finished he looked at the pad of paper in wonder. _To tear off, sword, minus big (_he'd put a question mark by that one)_, night, hollow world,_ and _iron_.

What on earth was Usagi dreaming about?

Gathering his belongings he headed towards Michiru and Haruka's house.

* * *

It had been pure instinct, pure practice and habit when Minako had darted towards the screaming voice. She could hear Rei and Ami behind her and knew that the same thought was running through their head; what exactly were they going to do when they got there?

At first Minako thought that maybe it was a mugging, a girl in trouble, but the horrendous, monstrous scream that obviously belonged to _no _human that followed her high pitched wail eradicated all possibilities of a mugging. She rounded a corner and froze, stumbling only when Rei and Ami bumped into her, surprised at her sudden halt.

Minako heard Rei's huff. "Mina-chan, what the hell are you stopping for?"

The blonde pointed ahead of them and Rei and Ami looked up, and up…and up at a giant…_creature_. It was like a youma multiplied by seven. Its face was covered in a giant skull-like mask and it's body was a giant mass of blue. It's shoulders hung low and it hunched over like a monkey as it screamed once again at a small girl who sat frightened on the street. A long, strong tail sat calmly behind it.

"Hopefully other people have scattered by now," Rei said, eyes searching quickly for any other people who may have been witness to this monster. "What are we going to do? It's not like we have any means to defeat this thing…"

Minako was anxious. She wanted nothing more than to throw up her hand and yell '_Venus Star Power!' _But she knew that doing so would do no good. "We may not have our Senshi powers but that doesn't mean we can't help her." Minako's foot wouldn't stop bouncing, she was itching to run towards the petrified girl and help her but a certain care and sense was keeping her from moving before they had a strategy. "We aren't completely defenseless, we know evasive moves, perhaps that will—" Minako lurched forwards as Ami ran by and brushed her shoulder.

"Ami!" Rei screamed, reaching out to stop the girl, but the blue haired genius was gone. "What is she doing?" she screamed again before running after her, an appalled Minako right behind her.

Ami had been watching. She had been observing and calculating while Minako and Rei had been talking. Her mind moved like turning wheels in the cycle of thought. The whole time they'd been standing there the monster hadn't attacked yet. Something was preventing it from doing so. As well, there was a strange line protruding from the chest of the girl that looked a lot like linked chains… not to mention the fact that it's long tail was twitching ever closer to her.

Moments before the tail could do any damage Ami nabbed the crying girl and sprinted away, a mass of rubble spraying into the air as the tail smashed the spot the girl had once been sitting on. She crashed into the ground, crying out slightly as she felt her shoulder dislocate—a weak spot she always had. Fragments screamed by Ami's face from the sheer force of the crash as she sheltered the girl underneath her own body, She winced when a few shards nicked her body and waited in silence for something else to happen.

When nothing did Ami peeked open her eyes. She looked down at the puffy red eyes of the girl she'd saved. She wore a small pink shirt that most nearly met the color of her weeping orbs. Jutting from the center of that shirt was exactly as Ami had imagined; it was a liked chain connected to a hole in her chest. She lifted a hand and touched it, unsure of what exactly she was being witness to. It wasn't cool or warm, like Ami had expected it to be, but rather it was as if she wasn't feeling anything at all. Her hand traced all the way to the end of the chain where the links merely disappeared…

"Are you alright?" she asked the girl in a small voice, patting down her hair in a motherly fashion. The little girl didn't respond, she only stared at Ami with her giant, incredulous eyes. Her small mouth twittered a bit as Ami studied her and she grabbed the hand that was grasping the chain coming out of her chest.

"You can see me?"

Ami, not expecting that reaction at all, pulled away a bit and tilted her head to the side. She gazed at the little girl again in a moment of disbelief before looking down to the chain sticking out from her chest. "Of course I can see—"

"Ami move!"

Ami glanced up just in time to see the tail of the monstrosity in front of her come flying in their direction once again. She looked down at the girl and a spark of uncertainty flashed through her eyes. How was she going to lift her with her dislocated shoulder? Her mind and body at that moment weren't working quick enough, and Ami threw her small body over the girl and waited, body tense, for the impact.

Minako lunged in front of her friend, crossing her arms in front of her face. She took the brunt force of the attack in her side, its tail assaulting with so much vigor that it sent her careening to the side. Ami's words caught in her throat as she reached with her unhurt arm towards her friend in an unknown gesture. Did she want to help, was she frightened, was she hopeless?

Minako lay almost motionless where she landed. Her leg moved and her body curled in pain, both actions topped off with a dismal moan. Her hand reached out and grasped some rubble, fingers itching to find salvation. Ami pulled her body up slowly, picking the girl up with her uninjured arm and stumbled towards Minako. Rei whizzed by her and picked up the groaning blonde gingerly and put her on her back.

"Ami, can you run?" she asked quickly, eyes darting upwards towards the monster.

Ami gave a silent nod on shaky legs as she pulled the girl onto her own back.

"Good," Rei said and began to run as fast as she could away from the masked monster. Ami followed behind her, shaking the cobwebs from her mind. Unfortunately for them, however, the monster was a surprisingly fast creature and it rounded on them in mere moments.

Rei froze as it unleashed another horrendous cry, it's head tilted back to release the optimum scream. She took a few steps back and looked down in annoyance at her civilian clothes. How on earth was she going to release her powers? She didn't know how, even Ami didn't know how, they needed Luna or someone to guide them, someone to show them how to reached the new power that resided within them.

The monster took another step towards her as if it were enjoying the helpless look she had plastered on her face. Rei and Ami took a few more steps back wards as the monster crept closer still. The raven haired priestess looked down at her hands that were grasping Minako's scratched legs and a thought popped into her head.

_How did I gain my powers from Mars?_ She asked herself as the creature screamed again, edging closer.

_Luna…_ a part of her brain added. She shook her head.

_Without the wand…what brought the symbol to my forehead?_

Rei continued to back up, tripping over some rubble and almost dropping Minako in the process. She thought back to her very first Senshi encounter.

_The bus, the children, Usagi and Ami, adrenaline and…_

There was something else, something that had tipped Rei over the edge when she'd faced off with Jadeite, something that brought out her brute needs. It was a little bit of anger and… an indescribeable feeling. Something akin to stature, something parallel to fright, and a definite dab of fearlessness and excitement. Rei set Minako down and glanced over at Ami. She knew exactly what she had to do.

"Watch Minako for a second," she commanded before darting directly towards the monster. Ami sprinted over to Minako and Rei heard her yell her name in desperation. The Senshi of Mars shook her head. Ami had had a plan before and now it was her turn to exercise her mental conceit.

What she needed was a dangerous situation that could only be evaded by using her powers. She needed to put her life on the line to set her body in survival mode where her powers would come of their own volition. The monster screamed at her once again and she felt her heart patter uncomfortably in her chest. In her stomach, however, she felt a pool of warmth. There was something fiery there that needed exiting. Rei focused her harboring warmth through the channels of her body towards her hands. She was almost there…

So close, so close.

So _very _close…

Before she knew it someone grabbed Rei right before the monster took a swat at her, and right before the fire reached her hands. She felt herself soaring through the air and wondered if her Senshi powers had come back. Perhaps her own body had saved her, maybe it was moving of its own desire, that perhaps she'd evaded the attack on her own.

When she landed, however, she knew it wasn't so. The man who'd rescued her was a sort of scrawny fellow with dark hair and small, round glasses. He wore a strange white uniform and glared down at her with surprisingly sharp blue eyes.

Rei glared up at him with just as much fervor. "What the hell are you doing?" she screamed, trying to pull away from his firm grip on her arms.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said calmly, not letting go. "Why on earth are you running _towards _it? You may be able to see it but that doesn't mean you have the powers to destroy it."

Rei was furious to say the least. She had been _trying _to get her powers back. If this guy hadn't nabbed her then she'd probably be flailing fire balls by now. Her blood was boiling she was so angry. "Well I could have if you hadn't interrupted!" she yelled, trying again to get out of his grip. She was successful this time but not by her own strength. The man pulled his hands away from her and shook them, staring at her in astonishment.

"Goodness, you're ungodly hot!"

Needless to say, Rei blushed. The blush soon turned to red hot fury as she put her hands on her hips and a scowl marred her pretty lips. "This is hardly the time for flattery! There is a monster over there and you're commenting on my looks?" she yelled.

"Not your looks, I m-mean you are pretty, very pretty in-in fact," Rei glared harder, "but I meant your skin. Your body literally feels like it's on fire!"

Rei's glare melted and she looked down at her hands. "It does?" she smiled. She erased that pretty feature quickly, however, and turned to him.

The guy raised an eyebrow and Rei could tell he was wondering how he'd picked up the crazy chick. He shook his head. "Anyways, my friend will take care of the Hollow. There's no need for you to worry anymore," he said, putting on his best Superman persona.

Rei blinked at her hands before looking up at him and raising an eyebrow. "What the hell's a Hollow?"

* * *

Ami watched in near amazement as the arm of the tall man let loose a blast of what looked like pure energy. It only nicked the monster, however, and it swung it's tail towards him. In an unsightly display of strength the man fended himself from the tail and did not go flying like Minako had.

_These must be our allies,_ she thought, looking down and smiling at the girl in her arms. "Don't worry, everything is going to be alright now," she said softly as the girl grabbed tight to her sweater and hid her face in Ami's chest.

Ami looked over to Minako and saw that she was starting to fully rouse as she picked herself up to her knees. A now coagulating scab had formed on her arm, the grime of the pavement unfortunately setting into the scrape. She looked over to their saviors and then to Ami's kneeling form. Minako looked dazed, her eyebrows turned down in an obvious gesture of confusion, as she brushed her hands and stood. At the extension of her torso, however, she doubled over in pain, gripping futilely at her side, eyes shut tight and mouth a silent open chasm of agony. She pulled in a sharp breath and kneeled again, fingers clenching and unclenching, wanting to grip at her side but knowing that touching the wound would be a bad idea.

"Minako…" Ami said softly from her position with the girl. The blonde bent her head and held up her hand, freezing Ami's concerned words in her throat. The bluenette should have known better when she'd initiated her alarmed declaration and she shut her mouth quickly, swallowing the words back into the pit of her stomach harshly. Minako looked up, trying to eradicate the glossy pain from her eyes (unsuccessfully) and looked towards the one fighting man and the strangely dressed guy holding Rei back.

"And they are?"

Ami shrugged. "I'm assuming our allies. If not, they're our enemies."

Minako gave Ami a meaningful glance. "How perceptive of you," was her astute tease.

The smarter girl shrugged and held the girl tighter to her chest, drawing Minako's eyes to the timid and alarmed child. "They showed up out of nowhere and— oh look, here's two more. My, what on earth are they wearing? These people have some strange outfits…"

Her eyes drawn from the kid, Minako looked up to see a very short girl with dark hair in a black kosode and hakama. Her companion, a bright orange haired man, wore the same thing, only with one of the largest swords Minako could fathom extending from his right hand. The sharp tip was pointed exactly at the monster and he seemed to be arguing with his friend before he launched into an attack.

There were three things… okay, maybe four that literally could take Minako's breath away: the first would have to be famous people (naturally), the second was fifty percent off sales, the third was being hit really hard in the stomach by an enemy, and the fourth… well the fourth was disappearing people. Thus, consequently, Minako's breath disappeared when the brightly haired man suddenly disappeared and reappeared, sword poised for attack, directly above the head of the monster. With one swift down motion he cut through the monsters head and it disintegrated like oozing pixels. What made the shimmery blonde's cherry lips drop open in sheer astonishment, however, was when the man remained standing on… air. He disappeared again and it took Minako a few moments of head swiveling to find him once more on the ground, next to the girl he'd arrived with.

Sure she'd seen youma float before, but a human? Minako was shaken from her astonished thoughts by Ami's whisper. The whole group was staring at them.

"Should we meet them half way?"

Minako's lips pursed and a serious twinge nicked at her eyes. "No," she stated, watching as the three of them, the orange haired man, the taller man, and the girl along with the male and Rei behind them, walk steadily towards their stationary forms. "Meeting them halfway would be intrusive. If we had our powers I would say definitely, we need the leverage and some sort of backbone, but frankly Ami-chan we're straight up on the downside."

A curt nod was all she received in return.

Their strange saviors stood like sentries above them, calculating eyes scanning their every move, flinch, shift… the orange haired one opened his mouth to speak.

"Wh—"

"Oh how do you run so fast?" came a familiar distressed call, echoing into the midst of the streets. The gang looked up and Ami wondered if this would be the opportune moment to dart away. Thinking of the girl in her arms and the potential informational advancements that could spur from this meeting she kept her flighty feet and bum attached to the ground.

"I could have sworn I heard it somewhere around here!"

At the second voice Ami's head darted up, surprised. Her torso turned to face behind them and the open street. It was a firm voice, thick in nature and utterly and completely familiar. She glanced over at Minako and they shared a look, helping each other to stand and turn around.

"But—_huff_—you don't know what—_huff_—it could be!" They could hear the desperation in this voice and Rei noticed the four strangers give each other looks.

"If someone's in trouble then—"

The whole group stared on as two girls rounded a corner and skidded into sight. They froze when the two saw the perplexed group standing and watching them and surprised and happy smiles lit up their faces.

"Mako-chan!"

"Inoue!"

"Guys!" they both yelled. They looked at each other, confused, and consequently said together again, "you know them?"

"No…" Makoto said, pointing to the sword wielding, weirdly dressed four, "who are they?"

The orange haired guy with the permanent frown almost huffed boyishly. "Who are we? Who the hell are you?"

"Ichigo!"

"We—" Ami began.

Rei crossed her arms firmly. "We asked you first!" she bantered childishly. "And politely at that," she added haughtily. He glared at her.

"They were running a suicide mission," the guy with glasses deemed to explain.

"Suicide?" the four girls plus Orihime exclaimed, staring wide eyed at each other.

"I told you!" Rei yelled at him. "I was trying to get my powers back before you so rudely interrupted!"

"What powers?" he sneered. "You barely have any reitsu—"

"Wait!" cried Makoto, a hand to her chest, "we lost our _powers_?!" she yelled, frightened.

Minako raised her hand. "No Mako-chan, it was a transfer—"

"Who are you people?" came the orange haired boys annoyed remark.

"If you would let us explain—" Ami tried.

"You shouldn't interfere where you don't belong," came the staid comment of the guy with glasses. Rei huffed and looked at him incredulously.

"We were merely trying to—" Ami tried again.

"It's a wonder they can even see us!" the orange haired guy said in a temper.

"You see we—" Ami tried politely a third time.

"Are completely lost?" the orange haired guy interrupted again.

Makoto wanted the smack him in the back of his head. "Let her explain, you orange haired asshole!"

"Kino-san…" Orihime mumbled.

"Orange haired— what? You have no right to comment on my hair color!"

Minako raised an eye brow at his strange offense.

"And why not?" Makoto asked hotly.

The orange haired guy pointed to Ami. "Because her hair's blue!"

"Enough!" the short girl cried and suddenly the orange haired guy was stuck beneath her foot. "Cease this petty fighting, Ichigo, you look lame!" she yelled as he shoved her foot off of him and stood from the ground, arms folded across her chest. "Plus there's a soul here," she whispered so that only he could hear. The orange haired guy looked discreetly down towards the soul in the blue haired girl's arms. "If you'd stop this banter," she whispered softly again, "you would have noticed that they were trying to protect her." The short girl turned away from him and cleared her throat.

"My name," she said, loud and clear for everyone to hear, "is Rukia Kuchiki. And I," she stated regally, "am a Shinigami."

* * *

Whew... it has been quite awhile since I've updated this story. I know this chapter isn't very exciting but I don't really want to just JUMP right into things without a believable basis for meeting and explanations and whatnot. I made it longer because of that; I know it was really boring but i tried to put in a lot more as an apology for not updating in a really, really long time. I promise you at the end I didn't get lazy, the lines are short because I wanted the story to assume the air of rapid-fire banter. If i'd added a bunch of hoo-ha in between it wouldn't seem like they were speaking quickly back and forth.

I hope you guys liked, and I promise there will be much more of the bleach characters now that they've crossed paths with the Senshi. As well, I honestly haven't really decided where I'm going to place the story within the Bleach timeline so things may get a little weird and change a lot. I'm not as much of a fanatic of Bleach as I am of Sailor Moon and this is the first time I've written the characters so I may be a little off at the beginning but hopefully I'll get into the correct groove later on.

Give me feedback and let me know what I can do to make the story better :)


	4. Complications and Compensations

**Ascension**

**Chapter Four: **Complications and Compensations

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Bleach

* * *

Ami blinked. Confusion at this point in the conversation was quite an understatement. At first she'd rejected the hand of the small, impish looking girl when she reached for the child in her arms. Ami even shielded the frightened girl when this 'Rukia' character drew the sword that rested on her hip. In a quick understanding of her reaction, similar to the way in which Ichigo had first reacted, Rukia went into a long winded speech on the whole idealisms and objectives of Shinigami. She briefly brushed over the Soul Society and Rukongai, where the girl would most likely end up.

Ami brushed back a lock of the little girl's hair. "So you're saying that this girl is actually a soul?" she questioned softly, staring down into the pleading eyes of her current charge. "But she feels so real."

Rukia pursed her lips slightly, choosing to ignore Ami's almost flippant comment. "I had no intention of alarming you when I drew my Zanpakuto," she said, motioning slightly to the gleaming sword in her hand. Ami swallowed and chanced a glance in Minako's direction, noticing the blonde had a grim yet calculating look in her usually cheerful eyes. She understood; don't automatically assume them enemies (after all, they had destroyed that giant monster), but keep a guard up and listen attentively to this girl's explanations. The blunette began mentally cataloguing her words in case any information she spewed could be useful in the future.

"Right now this girl is a Plus." Ami looked back up to the short girl from her position on the ground. "This means that she is solely the spirit of someone who's died. But do you see that chain connected to her chest?"

Minako eyed the chain warily, noting the slightly corroding ends. "That's the Chain of Fate. If torn out or completely disintegrated she'll transform into something along the lines of what we just defeated."

Ami stared down at the shivering girl in her arms, staring in wonder. How was it possible that a being so young and so seemingly innocent could mutate to form the grotesque, bleating monster that just a few moments ago stood like a mythological gate keeper in the middle of the street?

"That's why we perform _Konso_, a ritualistic soul burial, if you will," she explained, brushing a bang from her eye before showing Ami the bunt of her sword. With a swift delicateness she pressed it to the forehead of the little girl and in a matter of seconds she disappeared. Rei stared incredulously into Ami's now vacant arms, the said girl looking down as if something had just been stolen from her hands.

"And to think we've seem some strange things…" she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. Then she announced, in a voice that demanded full attention, "Since we seem to be swapping stories here, it seems that since you've explained the mysticism of your little encampment, we owe you the same."

At first Rukia's eyebrows shot up. She felt no definitive reitsu from the four girls and yet there was something about them that felt completely…_off_. Rukia knew that there was a secret that she and her friends hid from the rest of the human world and for some reason, just because these girls could see them, she'd spouted a miniature lecture on their entire secret. Her eyebrows creased and she wondered if the slip hadn't only been her doing.

As Ami stood, her apprehensive charge now heading off to this _Spirit World_, she noticed Rukia's new, hesitant expression. "Where to start…" she mumbled, wiping her bottom, one handed, of pebbles and dirt.

Ami heard a snort behind her and glanced up to see Makoto's tepid look. "Let's just say we're not from around here," she said, with a small cynicism infused smirk, watching as the Shinigami's eyes swam with questions.

"Well that's putting it lightly," Minako grumbled, eyeing her swelling ankle nonchalantly. "At least we know we're on Earth."

Uryuu's eyebrow rose, a slightly uneasy look in his eyes beneath his glasses. "Are you saying you're aliens?" he asked, shooting in the dark.

Rei let out a bark of laughter. "You could say that," she said icily towards him, remembering how he ruined her previous chances of reaching the hibernating power in her body.

Ami raised a finger. "We are, though we aren't." When she received questioning looks from the group in front of her and her comrades she shrank back, clasping her hands together. "Well, technically we are from Earth. Japan, even," she said softly.

Ichigo looked perplexed and wished that they would spit it out already. "Then how are you not from around here?" he demanded. "Are you from Hokkaido? Osaka?"

The four girls glanced at each other in silence. It was quiet and they seemed to be deciding just how much to tell. Minako cleared her throat. "Tokyo, actually."

Ichigo's eyebrows shot down. They were going in circles and he hated being led astray. "Then what is it?! Why are you not "_from around here"_, as you so blithely put it?" he growled.

Rei frowned. She hardly thought they were being blithe. She fiddled with a strand of her hair, waiting for one of her friends, probably Ami, to explain their whole situation. When the only thing she heard was a frustrated humph from the orange haired kid she looked up. All of her friends and the party in front of them were staring at her. She looked on in surprise and held up a hand.

"Don't make me say it, I'm not going to be the one they look at like I've just escaped from a mental institution. Uh-uh," she said, shaking her head and wagging a finger.

Makoto sighed and rolled her eyes at Rei's remark. "We're from a different dimension," she blurted offhandedly, sick of the back and forth games they were playing. Time was precious at the moment and they really just needed to sort their shit out. Her arms moved from across her chest to her hips when she became the recipient of the looks Rei had predicted.

"Believe what you want," she growled, her natural, impatient elements surfacing, "but frankly we don't have that much time." Keeping it short but sweet she chose her words wisely. Orihime watched on in surprise, wondering how the sweet girl she'd picked up from the park could transform into such an authoritative figure.

"Our princess is the keeper of an ineffably powerful crystal, one that apparently now has attracted the sights of someone from even a different dimension; such being this one." Makoto almost grimaced as she thought of the insurmountable repercussions if they failed. "In their efforts to receive the crystal they tried to infiltrate our dimension through the mind of our princess, a fixation that brought the translucent string that represents our dimension and the one that represents yours so close that they almost touched." Makoto brought her fingers together and intertwined them. "If they do touch, our dimension and yours will merge."

"Merge?" Sado asked as Orihime gasped.

Minako nodded grimly. "And who knows what will happen then. It could completely destroy both dimensions or the two could possibly just become one."

Ichigo chose this time to interject. "And what was this power you spoke of?" he asked skeptically.

At this, the girls looked pointedly at Ami. She sighed. "At home we're known as the Sailor Senshi and we protect the world from monsters known as _Youma_. Our powers come from a certain affinity to our home planets—"

"So you are aliens," Uryuu interrupted.

Ami glared and clasped her hands in front of her, giving the man the proudest look she could muster. "I am the reincarnation of the Princess of Mercury and thus entrusted with the inexpressible power that resides in its core. If being loyal to my original planet and serving to protect the one I now call home labels me as an alien then I suppose you may call me so. Never, however, use it as a slight or to give me any flack because when I do get my powers back you'll just have to see for yourself what my _alien powers _can do," she huffed. Uryuu took a slight step back.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," Ami continued, "since the affinity to our home planets does not exist in this dimension, it has been cultivated within our bodies and, instead of being stretched, for example, between Mercury and Earth, my power is now only compressed within my very being."

"Then how come you cannot access it?" Rukia asked, confused.

"At home," Minako stepped in, "we use instruments to channel our power from our planet to our body. Unfortunately those instruments have disappeared and we have yet to figure out how to use the raw power within our bodies," she explained.

"Which is why I was running directly at that _Hollow_ thing, or whatever," Rei almost sneered at Uryuu. "At home we first developed our power by harboring extreme emotions or being put in dire situations where our lives were at stake." She huffed a sigh and ran her hand through her hair once again. "I was trying to replicate that situation and emotion. I was about to reach that point before your little friend over there decided to be superman."

Uryuu glared at her. "You're lucky I saved you."

Rei gaped. "Did you not just hear me? I was about to save myself!" Makoto put a hand to her shoulder and Rei cooled off a little bit.

The groups were silent for a moment, analyzing each other in a fashion that unfortunately did not read 'companion'.

Minako rolled her eyes. "Look," she said, "We did not come to insinuate some false sense of camaraderie and you can believe our story or not. The fact of the matter here is that both your world and our world are in danger and if we want to save either of them then I suggest that we at least learn how we can help each other."

Ami held up a hand to this. "While I agree with you, Minako, that we're not advancing a false camaraderie, I would like to extend our friendship on behalf of my friends and myself, seeing as how when we get along things seem to run more smoothly."

Rukia nodded, holding out her hand. Ami took it. "As I said, my name is Rukia. That's Sado, Orihime, Uryuu, and the lame looking one there is Ichigo." Said boy glared down at her.

Ami gave her hand two solid pumps. "My name is Ami, and this is Rei, Makoto, and Minako."

Rukia nodded and watched her new 'comrades' closely. Rei was obviously the one with the quick temper. Her face was still flushed with anger and if looks could kill then Uryuu would surely have been murdered by now. There was something, however, about the coolness she displayed before that hinted that there was something far more to this gorgeous girl than met the eye. Makoto was tall and obviously had a bit of an attitude like her friend, but she hadn't been as forthright, thus her personality was lost on Rukia. Minako seemed kind but had a stern streak in her as well and a certain calculating coldness that her other teammates did not possess. Then there left Ami, the obvious peacemaker and it seemed like the plan-maker of the group. Rukia could see her analyzing her friends just as she was doing to hers. She smirked. She had a feeling she was going to like Ami.

They pulled away and smiled, some of the tension and possessiveness dropping. Rukia was about to give some witty remark about welcoming them to their humble dimension when an issue caught her mind.

"Where are you all going to stay?" she asked, crossing her arms. She sweatdropped when they all turned away, one whistling, one shuffling around a pebble, one scratched their head, and the other coughed. "Understandable, I suppose," she said, shrugging her shoulders, "you were coming to a new dimension. Who knew it was going to be just like your home?"

Minako beamed, a smile so pretty it caught Rukia off guard. "Exactly!" she laughed, "You've got it. Plus we hadn't really expected to run into allies so quickly. We've pretty much set up camp on a little bank down by some river over there." Minako grinned.

Orihime stepped timidly forward. Raising her hand softly she spoke. "I live alone," she said, "they could stay with me…" her diffidence faded when Minako burst into another sunny smile, one that brought a comfortable smile to Orihime's face as well.

"That would be wonderful!" she accepted before Ami could decline. Frankly Minako was just not the camping type, she preferred a shower, a bed, and a toilet to a stream, a sleeping bag, and a hole. High maintenance or not, she deemed it was simple human preferences.

Orihime clasped her hands together. "It will be like a sleepover every night!"

Minako clapped in delight and the other girl's sweatdropped. It was like the Usagi of a different dimension.

* * *

Ichigo frowned as he watched the girls slip into their sleeping bags on Orihime's floor. It wasn't as if they were completely suspicious, it was just that he didn't quite trust them. They had probably known them for a total of an hour and now they were shacked up in Orihime's house all buddy buddy with her and Rukia. _Girls,_ he mentally chastised.

He'd pulled Orihime aside before they went in and told her to call him if anything went amiss. Though she'd graciously accepted he watched her carefully from afar as she and the one named Makoto made some herbal tea.

Rukia cleared her throat. "Unfortunately during the day we attend school…" she said, watching for their reaction. "I'm not sure what you can do in your spare time."

Ichigo, too, watched them closely. Rei looked indifferent, Minako and Makoto gave each other a look before slightly cowering away, but Ami… her eyes lit up like Christmas lights. "School?" she said almost hopefully. "Leaving home, we will miss our education!" she said almost studiously, raising a finger. "Seeing as how we have a few kinks to work out is it possible for us to attend?"

Rukia looked slightly worried for a moment, wondering if she could possibly enroll, like she had herself, such a large group of girls.

"I think that's a good idea."

The room fell silent as all eyes turned to whom they least expected to utter those few words. Ichigo raised an eyebrow at their astonished eyes and shoved his hands almost roughly into his pockets. It honestly wasn't that he wanted to go to school with them or that he felt the need for them to continue with their education. It was the simple fact that he wanted to keep them away from Orihime's house by themselves and under a current surveillance that he could monitor himself. To him it was purely a strategical move.

Rukia, though some hesitation ran through her, caught on. "Yeah, sure, I'll see what strings I can pull. Perhaps we can steal some uniforms on the way home?"

Ichigo nodded silently, pushed off from the wall and walked towards the door with an off-handed "goodnight" over his shoulder. Rukia waved and followed, leaving one indifferent, one extremely happy, and two devastated girls to slink down into their sleeping bags.

* * *

The next morning Orihime woke groggily to the incessant beeping of her alarm clock. Her tired hand reached out and fumbled with the notch to turn it off before she sat up in her warm bed. The covers fell from her shoulders and immediately she regretted letting them fall. A chilly draft hit her bare arms and she gave an involuntary shiver, slipping her legs over the side of her bed and letting her mouth open wide in a black-hole of a yawn. She relished in the patchwork sun patterns that sifted through her curtains and the silly shapes that attached themselves to her skin.

When Orihime heard the sound of soft snoring coming from her living room she became startled. She'd almost forgotten about their 'dimension hopping' new friends. Her slumber rattled her brain and for some reason she became confused. Walking down the small hallway she found herself in the company of three lightly slumbering females.

_Wait_, she recalled, _weren't there four?_

The beginning of the all too known screech of a teakettle brought her attention to the kitchen, where Makoto diffused the sound before it woke her companions. Turning to check if she'd disturbed anyone, Makoto noticed Orihime's sleep doused form and gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," she apologized, "did I wake you? I couldn't sleep so I got up early."

Orihime smiled, inevitably letting loose a quaint chuckle behind her hand. "No worries," she whispered back, "my home is your home. It's about time to get up anyway." She eyed Makoto as she watched the girl delicately pour two cups of tea. Giving a friendly smile she handed Orihime a cup. "Thank you," she said graciously, blowing slightly on the wispy wafts of steam that emanated from the surface and depths of her tea.

She watched Makoto as she took a baby sip, testing the heat of the liquid, before turning to take a look at the rising sun. The candy glow of the suns first, burnt rays melted the sheltered façade her new ally had positioned. It slithered through the blinds and latched securely onto her body from her shoulders up, highlighting soft skin and a pair of eyes so startling Orihime swallowed harshly.

She turned towards the astonished girl and a beam of this revealing, penetrating light banded across Makoto's eyes, allowing Orihime to see the very makeup of her iris. The light delved deep beneath the eye and a color so astoundingly green and glass-like poured forth in a torrent.

Makoto took one of her hands and rubbed her own shoulder, taking another small sip. "What's wrong, Orihime?" she asked, an embarrassed pink tinge to her cheeks.

Said girl blinked quickly, noticing only then that she'd been staring fervently. "Oh! N-nothing, the tea is just a bit hot," she said, giving a blow and a little wave above the opening of the cup for effect.

Makoto smiled as Orihime turned to wake up her friends.

As she did so Orihime's breath caught in her throat. The sizzling sun had reached their midst and illuminated a certain something Orihime couldn't put her finger on. Minako's hair stood out like spun gold in a mounted heap across her pillow. Her peaceful face made her seem younger than she truly was, pink lips open with a small strand of drool attached to her hand, which rested just beneath her face. Ami's hair illuminated to reveal a swirling mass of ocean blue, a certain sparkle lighting it up to a turquoise tinge and her skin looked as soft as silk. Rei looked just as beautiful in sleep as she did when she was awake, her astounding ethereal exterior merely highlighted when her facial features were softened. Ebony hair blanketed her body as she softly snored.

Suddenly Orihime felt self-conscious. These girls had claimed that they were _princesses_. Surely the light had revealed the truth in their words. She turned around to tell Makoto that they should start to wake her friends if they were to make it on time to school when she caught the look that shaped the brunette's face. She looked shocked.

Orihime felt her face. "What is it?" she asked, confused.

Makoto just shook her head, but the surprised look still hadn't completely melted from her features. She gave Orihime a soft smile. "Nothing," she said gently, "it's just that when the sun hits you just right you look absolutely beautiful."

The softhearted girl blinked. Then, suddenly, she let loose a bark of laughter that caused the sleeping girls to stir. With a timid hand to her mouth she explained when Makoto gave her a questioning look.

"I was just thinking the same about you."

At Makoto's quiet giggle it was then that Orihime knew that Ichigo had to be wrong, that his prolonging precautions, wanting to keep a perpetual eye on them absolutely HAD to be unnecessary. There was no way these people could be any more than lost girls, searching to rectify a tough position at home. He had to be wrong…_had_ to be.

…

Ichigo had barely slept that night. At first his unremitting worry over Orihime's safety had him riled through the night but chastising yet calming words from Rukia in his closet allowed him to fall into a restless slumber.

His dream was strange. It wasn't necessarily about their new 'allies', and yet, in a big way, it was. First he'd dreamt of Ami, after careful thought in the morning he believed this was because he got the best first impression of her over the other three. She was kind and sensible. His mind's eye, however, was not able to form a clear picture of her in his dream; it was more a surging picture, wave after wave of water. It's pulse was calm, however, and he felt a certain calmness with her, a level headed sense that made Ichigo feel like he could talk to the bluenette about his deepest secrets.

Second he'd dreamed of Minako. The picture his mind painted of her was a swirling patch of sun, only few shadowed entrapments marring her dainty representation. The light was her, the shadows her faults, those things she hid from everyone else. The sunlight, however, almost always nearly overpowered the shadows and her bubbly nature made Ichigo believe that they would become fast friends, despite whatever walls he may put up.

The last two held completely different meanings, much less friendly and much more dangerous.

He'd dreamt of Rei next, but the fiery passion she exuded didn't stimulate a friendly nature within Ichigo, but neither was it a negative reaction. She was a rippling fire, a warmth that inspired not hate, not love, but a deep _desire_ inside. This was not something Ichigo liked, was not a feeling he was used to harboring. Temptation was her key, and she was someone Ichigo would have to stay away from, his attraction to her could only lead down a path he needed direly to stray from.

The last he'd dreamt of was Makoto. His mind's eye draped her in a tempestuous storm, a dangerous, unsteady assailment of who knows what. For some reason, unknown to him, he absolutely could not stand it. It was a hearty ache that emanated from it that kept him on his toes and caused the hair to rise on his arms. His mind railed against her, warned his body to stay away from one as erratic as her. _She_ was the one he'd have to protect his comrades from, protect his friends from. And even, perhaps, her own.

* * *

Uryuu had to try hard, _very_ hard, not to laugh at their situation. Rukia had managed to snag some uniforms the night before and had contacted him, letting him know that the four girls would be attending their class the next day. The spectacle before him had just made it all worthwhile. Using her Chappy tools, Rukia had managed to perform the same magic on the teacher as she had for herself and thus, nobody but Sado was surprised to see them there.

Ami stood beaming, looking eager to be in school. He nodded. She should be, education was important. The uniform fit her just right and she held her books proudly to her chest, glasses sticking precisely to her nose. Being a little taller than Ami, Minako's uniform was just a tad bit small for her but she used it to her advantage. Somewhat. She stood proud, almost gloatingly beautiful, but her eyes would ever so often slowly begin to shut and her head would bob. It was slightly obvious that school was not her thing. Makoto's problem was much more interesting. Being nearly half a head above Minako, her uniform was _much_ too small for her. Her face was perpetually red and she kept trying to pull down the skirt, which revealed an awful lot of her lengthy legs.

And then his eyes reached Rei. She wasn't even paying attention to the rest of the class, marveling at her beauty. Her eyes remained steadfast on him, glaring daggers his way, her mouth pressed into a furious line and her arms crossed snugly over her chest.

He grinned and crossed his arms in response. Her glare hardened. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

So it's building, at least they've conversed and gotten to know each other a little bit. Now I can finally move on to the juicy, fun stuff—the action, the smut, the deception! Haha, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.


	5. If You Can't do it Your Way

**Ascension**

**Chapter 5: **If You Can't do it Your Way…

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Bleach.

* * *

"So," Ichigo began, staring out at his new 'comrades'. They looked at him expectantly in different shades of moods. Rei looked bored and as if she wished he would just get on with it already. Ami looked politely alert, looking him dead in the eye with her head cocked slightly. Makoto looked tired with her head propped up on her hand though interested in what he was about to say. Minako…wasn't really paying attention at all. She was lying down, hands behind her lead and legs crossed, a small smile gracing her features as she relished in the sun.

Ami raised an eyebrow, confused. "So," she repeated.

Ichigo frowned. "So what does you four coming to our dimension do to the whole space/time continuum thing?"

Rei managed to look partially impressed before she gave a roll of her eyes and gracefully lowered herself to the roof in a position similar to Minako's. "It's not what did _we_ do to the space/time continuum, it's what did that _man _do to the whole space/time continuum by trying to take the crystal," she corrected, her face sporting a frown instead of Minako's blissful smile.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said, watching her as she placed her arms behind her head. He was suddenly reminded of his dream and when he felt a small heat rise to his cheeks that the sun wasn't accountable for he turned away. He made eye contact with Ami instead. "Well?" he asked.

Ami pushed her glasses up her nose. "The only thing I can assume so far is that it hasn't really done much to our Time. The enemy is not located in our Tokyo so leaving would only barely mar future occurrences." She gave a grim expression and looked over to Makoto, the only one of her friends whose eyes were open. "That is, unless we fail."

Makoto looked down and frowned, fidgeting around to try and sit comfortably without showing her underwear. She huffed angrily for a moment, cursing whoever made the skirts so damn short. Eventually she settled for sitting on her knees. "We won't," she murmured, brushing dust from her hands. "We just have to find some way to activate our powers."

She heard Rei snort behind her and turned to give the girl a questioning eye. Rei still didn't open her eyes but grumbled something about someone trying futilely to play Superman. Makoto shook her head softly.

Nobody noticed but Minako's once blissful smile discreetly faded into a thinking frown.

Ami cleared her throat. "Your future, on the other hand," she continued as if there had been no interruption, "has been completely changed."

Rukia and Orihime shared confused looks. "And why is that?" the shorter girl asked.

"Well," Ami said, her studious voice surfacing as she pulled a piece of paper from her bag and a pen. She drew two lines, one on top of the other. She then proceeded to draw another line branching from the line on the bottom to the line on the top. A small arrow adorned its top. "This is our dimension," she said, pointing to the line on the bottom, "and this is your dimension." She pointed to the line on the top. Then, she indicated towards the line branching from her dimension. "That is us breaking away from our dimension and coming to yours. You see, if we hadn't done that then both of our Time's would solely continue onto undisturbed futures," she said, waving her pencil over the ends of the two lines. "But since we've crossed over," she scratched out the end of their dimension, "this future ceases to exist. And now," she drew a new line following the branching line from her dimension, "a new future is made."

She turned the drawing around so that they could all admire her handiwork and was not surprised when they all held confused expressions. Uryuu's hand was to his chin, a skeptical look on his face while Ichigo scratched his head and looked to Sado who had crossed his arms. Orihime and Rukia were both leaning in close to inspect Ami's handiwork.

"Oh look, Rukia," Orihime pointed out, "If there were cute little bunnies and drawings on this it would be just like one of your explanations."

Rukia looked to Ami appreciatively. "You're right, Orihime," she said as she nodded in satisfaction.

Rei, who still had her eyes closed, voiced a question. "So are you saying that they could have had a some big be-all, end-all fight with this guy but because we've showed up that's never going to happen?"

Ami nodded. "Precisely."

Just then Minako shot up from her once restful position on the roof, a gasp worthy of years of oxygen accompanying her action. Her eyes were wide and almost unseeing as her mouth hung slightly open.

Makoto grabbed her shoulder, worried, and even Rei dared to open an eye. "Minako!" the brunette cried. "What happened, what's wrong?"

She blinked, still staring out into nothingness. "I think I've had a cacophony," she deadpanned.

Uryuu looked at his own companions, confused. "What does that mean?" he asked, restraining himself from making fun of her.

"Did you mean epiphany, Minako?" Ami asked as Makoto let go of her shoulders, the worry dissipating.

"Is that when you have, like," she waved her hands around her head, "a sudden realization?"

Ami giggled. "Yes."

"Then yeah, I had one of those," she said, her eyes finally coming around to make contact with the people that surrounded her.

When she had yet to explain precisely _what_ her so-called epiphany had been, Rei frowned in annoyance. "Well," she said, "spit it out already, what was it?"

"Oh, right!" Minako held up a finger and smiled. "Guys," she said, looking to her best friends and her new friends. "I think I've figured out a way through our power problems."

All ears perked and those who'd been daydreaming before became attentive. Even Rei sat up from her position on the ground to give Minako an interested look. The blonde grinned, noticing how all of the attention was on her. In a spurt of pure cleverness she leaned over and delicately and swiftly took Ami's glasses from her nose.

"Oh!" the bluenette cried, reaching out for them.

Minako placed them on her own eyes and held up a finger, imitating Ami's voice when she was explaining something. "It came actually from something we'd articulated last night," she said, clearing her throat. "I surmise it was something along the lines of, "back home we use instruments to channel our power"," she said, using a deep voice strangely enough to imitate herself.

"Yeah, what about it?" Ichigo asked, taking a sip from his juice box.

Minako beamed that disarming smile again and pushed the glasses farther up on her nose. "Well, then I remembered that you," she said, pointing to Ichigo, "killed that giant monster thingy—"

"A Hollow," the five of them chorused, correcting her.

"Right, the Hollow, with a giant sword thingy—"

"A Zanpakuto," they corrected again.

"Yeah, that."

Everyone waited for Minako to continue but she just sat there with her charming smile as if she'd just solved the hardest problem in math class.

Rei gave her a poke to see if she was for real. "And that was the extent of your epiphany?" she asked sourly.

"Oh no," Minako said, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "The real epiphany is that all we have to do is get us one of those Zanpa-whatever's to channel our power through and voila! We're set!"

Ami's eyes shot into her hairline and the other's seemed to look at Minako with a new regard. The blue haired girl shook her head in disbelief. "You know what, Minako, you may just be on to something," she said, putting a finger to her lip and looking contemplative.

Rei looked at her incredulously. "Who'd have thought that was going to come out of _your_ mouth?" she murmured as the blonde turned and glared at her.

Before she could say anything, however, Makoto gave her a firm punch to the shoulder. "I knew you had it in you, Mina-chan!" she said as Minako gave her a wary eye and an unsure smile, rubbing her arm.

"I appreciate the support, Mako-chan, but the punch will leave me a bruise the color of Rei's eyes."

Makoto put her hand behind her head and apologized sheepishly as Rei glared daggers in Minako's direction. "Are you saying my eyes are the color of bruises, Minako?"

Just as Minako opened her mouth to smartly respond, Ami nabbed her glasses from the bridge of her nose. The blonde gave a weak "hey!" but sobered up when Ami placed them on her nose and said, "_Enough_, you guys."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Who died and made you mom?"

Ami stuck her nose in the air proudly and crossed her arms over her chest, deciding not to feel hurt by Rei's caustic words. "When you two decided to act like children," she responded.

Rei and Minako gave small laughs as Makoto clapped slowly, shaking her head with admiration. "You go girl," she said appreciatively.

Ami smirked and swallowed up the moment before passively wondering what their new comrades must have thought of them. She looked over to them and was surprised to see that they looked as if they were eager to see what happens next.

"It's like watching a soap opera," Orihime wondered aloud wistfully, eating some of her rice but never taking her eyes from the four.

The girls laughed nervously before Ami cleared her throat. She turned to Rukia and asked, "is it possible for us to receive one of these Zanpakuto?"

Rukia was silent for a moment, a hesitant finger placed to her lips as she racked her brain for an easy answer she could use to explain the complicated predicament. "Is it possible?" she asked rhetorically, "I'd say so. Is it easy? I wouldn't say so."

Makoto looked slightly confused. "Then how would we acquire one?"

Rukia started to say something but stopped, her explanation caught in her throat. She shook her head slightly, that one piece of hair falling back into her eyes. She pushed it away and looked up to the four expectant girls in front of her. "It would be very difficult…"

Ichigo turned to her, his mind whizzing back to when he first held a Zanpakuto. "Rukia…" he said softly, suddenly overtaken by an appreciation for how she'd helped saved his family once again. "It would be dangerous to perform a transfer of power."

Rukia shook her head. "No, I know that. I'm just trying to think, there are only limited options if even possible," she responded, looking from her orange haired friend to the girls once again.

"Why is it so difficult?" Rei asked. "Aren't they just swords?"

Rukia's expression turned grim as she shook her head. "No. No, a Zanpakuto is a partial manifestation of the soul."

Ami looked intrigued. "The soul?" she asked, her thinking visage falling into place. "Are you saying that a Zanpakuto is more of an entity than a tangible object?"

Rukia nodded. "My Zanpakuto Sode no Shirayuki is a part of my soul. It has its own spirit, of course, but it still has a part of me within it." Rukia looked very worried for a moment and the hope growing within Minako at her genius discovery started to dwindle away. "But that took years of training."

Ichigo looked down to her. "But I—"

Rukia held up her hand, silencing him. "You were an exception, Ichigo. Your reiatsu is insurmountable. I hate to admit it but what you've achieved is quite extraordinary." The orange haired youth began to look embarrassed. "Perhaps we should take them to Urahara. He'll know what to do."

Ichigo nodded.

Minako looked to her friends, a confused expression plastered to her face. "Urahara?" she asked.

* * *

Ami felt extremely uncomfortable. She tried to remain calm, to keep the blush from rising to her cheeks or her eyes from making contact with another pair. She kept them glued to her hands, which were folded neatly in her lap. She could tell Rei was getting annoyed as well from her fidgeting beside her. The raven-haired girl couldn't keep her irritation welled within her anymore.

"Well say something," she blurted sharply, folding her arms over her chest and frowning with a barely contained annoyance.

Their audience jumped for a moment as if roused from a near sleepy state. Around the small table Urahara, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were currently staring curiously at the four girls in front of them. Jinta looked doubtful, as if the four in front of them were clinically insane. Tessai looked worried, as did Ururu. Kiske Urahara on the other hand, looked thoroughly interested.

"A different _dimension_?" he said breathily, mouth open like an astonished child. How impossible! How had these girls crossed through to another dimension? He wouldn't have believed them if…

Urahara sat up straight, the near drool of excitement that dribbled from his surprised mouth vanishing as he became serious. That half knowing smirk, however, replaced it as he gave the girls an appraising glance. The raven haired one looked nearly about to loose it (Urahara briefly thought such an angered face was quite unbecoming of such an astonishingly beautiful girl), the blue haired girl looked embarrassed, her eyes downcast, the blonde girl looked quite cheery, and the brunette merely looked tired.

Rei sighed. "Look, this is a waste of our time," she said, standing and placing her hands on her hips. "I don't know why we're meddling around here with people who think we're crazy when someone is trying to take the crystal from Usagi and potentially destroy our—"

"Rei please…" Ami pleaded softly, glancing up desperately at her unrestrained friend.

Urahara looked, if at all possible, more interested. "Who said I didn't believe you?" he questioned as Rei's hands fell from her waist. She gave him a careful look before slowly lowering herself back to the ground. She looked to her left to see her other two friends staring at her with raised eyebrows and immediately felt slightly embarrassed.

"W-well you all just kept staring at us and not saying anything," she said in rebuttal.

Urahara leaned forward, not even listening to her explanation. His curiosity was piqued. "You say you have powers?" he asked, watching as the girls slightly tensed. He nodded slightly to himself, thinking that they were used to sharing such information and with a smirk he thought of how telling bodily quirks were.

"We do," Minako answered hesitantly.

Urahara put a finger to his chin. "What are they?"

Ami cleared her throat. "I can control water and turn it into ice."

"Fire," was all Rei would say.

"I am the Senshi of Love and Beauty!" Minako announced as she winked and gave him a thumbs up. Urahara looked surprised.

"Love and beauty?" he questioned, confused as to how those could be transferred into powers. "Do you make people fall in love?"

Minako blinked. "Well no," she answered, putting a finger to her chin. "I guess I have more of an affinity for light." Urahara nodded and turned towards the last girl.

Makoto gave a nonchalant, two-fingered wave, not even looking up to make eye contact. "Nature and lightning."

"Two?" Urahara questioned, looking towards her other comrades. "Why does she have two such different ones?"

They all looked at each other, a distinct bewilderment arising on their faces. Makoto shrugged slowly, looking from her friends to the man in the hat. "I'm not really sure."

Urahara leaned back, encapsulated in a bubble of wonder and interest. "This is quite a development you've brought to me, Rukia," he said, glancing at the girl out of the corner of his eye. She leveled with him with an austere look in return.

"Is it possible for them to acquire Zanpakuto's?" she asked, eager for an answer. Urahara immediately shook his head and her heart sank. "No?"

"Absolutely not," Urahara answered and watched as the girls' faces fell. "It would be nearly impossible for them to acquire something in our dimension that didn't previously exist in their own."

Minako felt her heart sink into the depths of her stomach. She'd felt so sure, so positive that this was going to work. To hear that it was undoubtedly impossible made any sense of positivity she'd retained before coming to the shop fade with her hope. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Well," Urahara began, "just because you can't summon a Zanpakuto doesn't mean you can't use a katana as a medium."

"For our powers?" Makoto asked, now curious.

Urahara nodded. "Rukia was right. You all don't have any reiatsu, thus it would be impossible for you to even dream of developing a Zanpakuto." His eyes squinted. "But you do have power, it's just difficult to…put a finger on."

Ichigo looked up to Urahara, his dream coming into his head. He watched, confused as the shop owner made brief eye contact with him before looking back to the worried girls in front of him.

"In fact," Urahara continued with a mysterious smirk, "it's nearly undetectable."

Uryuu nodded. "I noticed that last night," he said. "Only when you told me you had powers and I felt your body heat to extreme measures…" he glanced at Rei who glared back at him, "…only then did I notice something there—barely there."

"Are you saying that you can only sense our powers if we tell you?" Makoto asked, curious as to what the two were getting at.

Urahara shook his head. "Not necessarily. But one would only be able to sense you if…they were looking to sense you."

It was as if a light bulb went on over Ami's head. "And since nobody but you guys knows that we're here…" she started, eyes widening and a smile coming to her once hopeless features.

Urahara nodded. "Precisely," he said, giving her a proud nod, "no one will ever suspect you coming."

Rei looked confused. "So we're like an undetectable surprise attack?"

Urahara gave a chuckle. "For those highly aware of power you'd be much less noticeable than reiatsu, but you would still be noticeable. In general, however, yes. More or less."

Ichigo looked revitalized. "This could be a huge benefit for us," he said, leaning towards Urahara. "If barely anyone can sense them we could have the upper hand in—"

"If," Ami interrupted him, "we can find a way to even access our powers."

Urahara looked serious again. "Which brings me back to where we were. You said that you used wands to access your power?" At their nod he asked another question. "Did you just carry them around at all times?"

Minako shook her head. "Nope, we usually just kind of…" Minako flicked her wrist and lifted her arm into the air, the fluid motion so automatic. Her hand fell and she shrugged her shoulders. "That's just kind of how it works."

"Fascinating," Urahara mumbled, a hand to his chin once again. "Perhaps all you really need _are_ blank katanas to channel your powers through."

Makoto raised her hand. "Um, two problems. One; we don't know how access our powers and two; none of us know how to use a sword."

Urahara gave her that smug smirk. "Two answers," he said in return. "One, you already _do_ know how to access your powers. You said that when you're put in situations which foster extreme emotions or adrenaline, your powers will surface. The proof is you," he said, pointing to Rei. "Uryuu said that when he rescued you, your body was extremely hot to the touch. I'm assuming, then, that it's possible to access your powers by putting you in extremely dangerous situations."

Ami was astounded at his reasoning. He seemed so sure of himself and so knowledgeable about something he had only heard of or known for close to an hour.

"Answer to question two," Urahara continued, "is quite easy." He pointed a finger to Ichigo and a finger to Rukia. "Training!" he smiled.

Rei looked unconvinced. "Two of them to four of us with limited time?" she said skeptically.

"Solvable," Urahara shrugged. "To teach you to use the katanas, Rukia, Ichigo, Ururu and I will help. To access your powers…" Urahara grinned, "We all will help."

* * *

Rei was skeptical. They all now sat around Orihime's floor with different extremes of emotion set to their faces. "So what do we do now?" she asked, not really sure of how this was going to work. They'd known each other for approximately two days and already they were formulating preparations for battle.

After a moment of silence Rukia seemed the only one willing to speak. "I'm not quite sure. Perhaps we'll go to Seireitei…"

Ichigo snorted and she glared at him. "Is that really such a good idea? We all know how suspicious the Gotei 13 is. They might think you all are aliens trying to take over the world."

"But we need their help, Ichigo, we can't do this on our own," came Orihime's soft voice as she and Makoto entered the room bearing treys with tea. The group gathered around and filled steamy cups before settling in and trying to once again focus on outcomes.

The voices drained away for Ichigo, however, as the emotions he felt from his dream came hurdling at him full force. It was almost as if a switch had been turned on, like a lamp finally lit flooding the room with light. His cup halted inches from his lips as Rukia's calculating voice became muted. Everything around him faded away as he tried to focus on not completely obliterating Orihime's ceramic cup in his hands. It was as if every scent, every movement excited a tingling sensation. They were not titillating sensations, however but quite the contrary. His very being felt drawn in four directions.

They continued with their conversation, unaware of his internal plight and Ichigo felt only partially relieved. He looked towards Ami, her eyes seated on Uryuu as he spoke. He felt the need to pull her aside, to tell her everything about himself, to ask for her advice. These urges, however, he pushed harshly away, knowing that he _didn't_ like to share his emotions and he was far less inclined to share them with someone he barely knew. And yet here he was, feeling a connection so deep with this blue haired girl that it stirred something within him.

He blinked his eyes fiercely, trying to escape the feeling and turned hopefully to Minako. Suddenly he felt at ease, as if he wanted _her_ to tell him all of her worries. A blanket of calmness overcame him for a split second before he felt his mind pulled away. He tried to refuse it, to keep his eyes trained only on the sunny girl as she was speaking (though her words were lost to him) but he couldn't fight it.

Slowly and regrettably Ichigo turned his eyes (less of his own accord) towards Rei. He felt a churn in his chest and closed his eyes, not willing to look at her while his body harbored such extreme emotions. He didn't want to feel this, he didn't want these emotions coming over him. His anger began to grow and he clenched the tea cup tightly in his hand again. This time, however, he could not restrain himself and he felt the cup began to crack in his palm. He was on the brink, tinkering dangerously around the edge—

"Would you like more tea?"

The cup snapped in his hand, sending hot liquid onto his shirt. Ichigo, who'd been surprised by the voice behind him and shaken from trying to emotionally constrain himself, leapt from the chair. The tempestuousness of the affect she had on him hit full force and his fists gripped tightly at his sides. His friends were watching him carefully, wary of any movement he made and just as confused as the girls sitting around the room.

Makoto's eyes were wide, her confusion the most evident as she took a step back from him, not so much in fear, but in an effort to let him regain himself and give him some air. Something was obviously bothering him.

All he felt was a flurry of an untamed…_something_. If this was the inherent power that Urahara had spoken of then perhaps she did not need to be trained. He glared down at her, standing only a few inches shorter than himself, before turning and stalking moodily out the door.

Rukia watched carefully, a finger to her lips as Orihime cried for Ichigo to return. She'd been watching him for the past couple of minutes, the diverse emotions that pedaled through his eyes enough to reveal that there was something different that he was feeling from each of the now bewildered girls. He'd looked at Ami and Minako like sisters, his eyes holding that particular caring and protective appearance. But he'd almost blushed when he'd looked at Rei and glared at Makoto as if she were an enemy.

She was surprised at how well the girls took it, however, when Makoto turned to the group, holding up the tea kettle with a raised eyebrow and said, "Would anybody _else_ like more tea?"

* * *

Sorry, it's a little short. I realized that it had just been far too long since I'd updated this so I took a break from Toxic and headed over to this story. Not quite to the real good stuff yet but it will get there. If you haven't already noticed, I'm not one to really rush my stories. If you're not quite sure where this is headed just stick around for a while and keep reading and then you'll find out. Everything isn't just going to happen at once. The pairings are not just going to appear and formulate over three or four chapters. But trust me, it'll all come.


	6. Exams of Doubt

**Ascension**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters

Chapter Six: Exams of doubt

* * *

Mamoru smiled at the woman he knew would one day be his future wife. She didn't notice his loving look because her eyes were far too focused on the delicious gourmet food that had been placed in front of her. With all of the strange occurrences that had progressed over the past couple of days he decided that a soothing dinner date was optimal. She seemed better, though obviously still shaken by the second dream she'd had. Instead of instantly gobbling up her food, like she usually did no matter the circumstances, she picked at it for a bit before placing a small piece into her mouth. She swallowed and looked up, finally noticing his look and returning it with a soft one of her own.

"Are you not hungry?" she asked, gesturing to his untouched dinner.

Mamoru looked down, quite unaware that he hadn't even touched his food. He looked back up and smiled. "I am," he said, taking her hand from across the table, "but you looked far more appetizing than my own food."

Usagi let loose a surprised laugh, one of the only genuine ones he'd heard in awhile. Her cheeks became red, flushed with a blush as she shook her head. "Mamo-chan, you're such a schmoozer," she teased, giggling behind her hand in a comely manner.

His eyes remained steadfast on her form, his lips frozen in a tepid smile, but his mind whirred about a singular dilemma. His purpose for bringing her out to dinner was to force Usagi's lamentation over letting her friends go to rescind to the back of her mind. He wanted her to look forward and work hard to keep their world safe from within. However, in doing so he needed to be able to talk to her about things that she obviously didn't desire to discuss. Though his intent, at first, was a medium through which he wished she would relax, he couldn't help the urge that burned in his chest to ask her about her dreams. The arousal of her depression, however, he knew would be the repercussion. She watched him carefully, quite aware that something was wrong as Mamoru battled his desires. Her happiness versus her safety. While the former was vitally important, he figured that without the latter there was no happiness.

When he didn't speak for a while, Usagi knew what plagued his thoughts. Her grip on his hand tightened and the uncertain smile that'd been fixed to his lips fell to a curious frown. Her jovial demeanor had diminished and he almost physically felt her serious carriage as she braced herself. "Just say what you want to say, Mamoru," she deadpanned.

He nodded, knowing that she'd caught him and he didn't want to bother wasting the chance. "Have you ever learned Spanish, Usako?" he asked, watching as her brow wrinkled.

She shook her head. "No, never," was her reply. "Why do you ask?" Mamoru could tell based off of her perplexed look that she was wondering just why that was such a difficult question to ask.

He sighed. "In your dreams you've been saying words in Spanish," he responded, watching as her curiosity piqued before falling behind a more muted façade. She looked away and her grip on his hand alleviated. Mamoru cursed his overeager ambition as her posture slumped lower and her once powerful look became timid and uncertain. Before she could fold onto herself and close off to him completely, Mamoru grasped her hand reassuringly. "Usagi, I know I don't have to feed you soothing reaffirmations that your friends will be alright or that you made the right decisions. Whether you're mentally cognizant of the fact or not, you know deep down that things will work out and you did." He could see the tears building in her eyes, her blue orbs plastered to the ugly restaurant carpet. But her fingers laced themselves with his, her own physical response to his words, encouraging him to continue.

"You need to face these dreams head on. Learn what you can about this man; what is his name, how does he know about you or our friends, what does he want?"

He wasn't sure why but Mamoru's skin crawled with consternation when Usagi looked up from the floor. Her eyes were angry; not towards him, he was sure of that, but her face had become encased in a moderate fury towards the man who invaded her mind. He'd never seen her so disturbed as she opened her lips and spoke. Her voice was low but cold enough to send chills through his body, to raise the hair on his arm.

"Sosuke Aizen, 12 years ago, and my crystal."

* * *

The evening was chilly for a summer's night and Ichigo's hands were shoved nearly haphazardly into the pockets of his long pants. He'd gone for a lone walk, figuring some time to incorporate physical movement with his mind's mental uproar would settle the uncomfortable fury that had moved into his muscles. His posture was slouched, head bent low as his eyes bore deeply into the ground with frustration. His brain simply didn't quite know how to wrap itself around the recent developments. Sure he was able to accept the fact that he'd procured some sort of worthiness in a world where monsters ate souls and he could see spirits and whatnot. But people traveling from another dimension? The absurdity in that question alone made him purse his lips and run tired fingers through his spiky orange hair. Not only did these women claim to hail from a different dimension, but they allegedly harbored magical powers festering untapped within their bodies. Ichigo almost wanted to laugh. He felt like some cruel hand of fate had painted him on the pages of a poorly written manga.

What he needed to figure out and solve was why the inexplicable emotions that raged through his body around those girls were so strong. Why did they even occur? Why was he so comfortable around two of them and so unbelievable uncomfortable around the other two? Ichigo kicked a crumpled can that happened across his path and watched as it skittered away from his foot. It slid noisily down the street until it came to a jolting stop beneath a feminine, black shoe. His eyes followed the shoe up the body of one Rukia Kuchiki, whose face sported a distasteful frown. Her arms were placed heavily on her hips and in one swift movement she kicked the can harshly back at his face.

Instinctually Ichigo ducked with his hands on his head and watched behind him as the can smashed harshly into the brick façade of a building. His head snapped back to face her full of wonderment and irritation. "What the hell was that for?"

"What is your problem, Ichigo?" she quipped back, bringing her hands from her hips to fold tightly across her chest.

Ichigo stood straight and turned his eyes away from her. Rukia had an uncanny ability to read him no matter what turmoil tumbled through his head. He liked it and hated at the same time; on one hand, it was nice to know she cared so much, but on the other it was damn annoying that she could basically read him like an open book. "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered almost dejectedly.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Oh please don't play that card you sulky little boy." Ichigo looked up angrily to retort but Rukia continued. "Do you think I'm so unobservant that I haven't seen the way you've been looking at those girls?"

Ichigo gave her a sly look. "Jealous much?"

Rukia stomped quickly over to his vicinity and hit him hard over the head. "Not if the prize is you, you dimwit!" Ichigo glared at her and rubbed the back of his head. Her face and voice softened. "Plus, I'm trying to be serious here. Your focus is vital in this hectic situation. I just can't have you snapping on any whim."

Ichigo refused to relent his clutch on his juvenile attitude, despite the more cautionary and serious tone she'd undertaken. "What are you, my boss or something?" he retorted.

The seriousness and worry Rukia had conveyed melted into a more annoyed and angry look. "Would you grow up?" she snapped, placing her hands on his shoulders and giving him a hearty shake. Still he wouldn't look at her. "Stop being so damn stubborn and tell me what's wrong!"

"It's nothing, Rukia," she said, shrugging her hands off his shoulders gently enough to communicate that he wasn't angry with her but didn't want to talk about it. He kept his eyes plastered down the street, not sure he really wanted to see the disappointment he knew was painted all across her face.

Sure enough she let go a tsk of displeasure. "Fine," she replied, voice terse. Her next words were like darts dipped in poison—aimed in his direction and prepared to sting, but solely used for intimidating measures. "But make sure you help us train them. Whether you know it or not they're here to save this and their own dimension. Not only that, they're here to save this city, these people, your friends…and your family."

Ichigo spared her a quick glance before looking back down the street.

Rukia continued. "If I remember correctly you went through a whole lot of trouble to help me after I saved your family."

"That was different," Ichigo said quickly, shaking his head.

"How so?" Rukia asked.

Ichigo sighed. "You nearly gave up your life. You gave me your power. Respect and merit are given where they're deserved." He finally turned to her. "Do you see how lenient we're being? Why? Why are we helping them with open arms when we know _nothing_ for sure? Who says they're not the enemy?" He took his hands out of his pockets and looked and them, lips pressed together tightly. When he spoke it was almost like a secret he was telling her, his voice low enough that Rukia actually had to concentrate just to hear him. "Do you know how much I worried about Orihime at night because of them?"

Rukia watched him carefully. Sure, she'd been mulling over the same questions since these four strange women happened across them. But her solution had been a little different. "Believe it or not I have an answer to each of those questions."

Ichigo looked to her skeptically from his hands, slipping them back into his pockets slowly. He raised an eyebrow, signaling for her to continue.

"We're lenient, Ichigo, because we're the good guys. We care enough to trust those who come to us with a problem. It's what we do. We're not blindly lenient, though." Rukia smirked. "I'll trust them until they betray that trust. Plus we're always watching, always careful. If we don't reveal too much about what we can do and who we are then we keep the upper hand. You know what they say, keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer." Rukia shook her head. "But I'd rather see the good in people before the bad. Not to mention I kept an eye on Orihime last night just to make sure, I worried about her too."

Ichigo's sheer surprise at her words melted into an appreciated smile.

"I'll let you figure your stuff out on your own, but you need to sort it out. And soon." And with those parting words Rukia turned and walked briskly away. Ichigo watched her go, brain sinking into frustration with every meter she put between them. He knew she was right, everything she said made perfect sense. It was just…

"Rukia!"

She turned around quickly, eyes watching him expectantly.

"I'll help train them." He didn't mean to wipe the building smirk off of her lips but he continued. "Just don't let me work with the brown haired one." She looked at him questioningly and Ichigo frowned. If they were supposed to become a team with these girls he didn't want to ruin the relationship before it even started. "I'm not sure I'd be able to hold back."

He couldn't read her expression, standing so far away, but he could tell it had hardened from the worried one it'd been before. Her head bobbed slowly in a nod before she turned and continued out of his sight.

After she disappeared Ichigo continued on his walk slowly and alone.

* * *

The next day Makoto couldn't help but feel left out. She could feel the budding animosity between her and the orange haired kid, Ichigo, ever since he'd stormed out the night before. Nobody talked about the incident but Makoto was sure it was lurking somewhere in the back of their minds. How he'd managed to garner enough reason to dislike her already irked the brunette. She was used to a person hating her, that was for sure, but usually it was because she'd beaten them up or given them a black eye or something. For someone to outright despise her for no legitimate reason made her temper rise. It didn't help that her mounting frustration increased with every look of rancor he slipped her way.

She felt awkward around the group now because he seemed like such a genuine guy. He seemed to take quite well to Ami and Minako, trying to work up conversations with them and looking interested when they responded to one of his questions. He was shy around Rei, that much was obvious, but she didn't seem to care too much about getting to know him seeing as how she and that Ishida kid bickered like it was their job.

What made it even more awkward was the fact that everyone could feel the palpable tension between her and Ichigo. An unexplained tension, yet nearly tangible nonetheless.

She bumbled behind the group silently; Ami, Ichigo, and Minako were talking in the front. Rei and Ishida fought heatedly over the actual color of water—Rei insisted that it was blue since in mass quantities that's what appeared, while Ishida argued that phenomenon's like Jamaica's Black River clearly defied her logic. Behind them Rukia, Sado, and Orihime laughed about something that had occurred in class that day. Makoto, using the excuse that she needed to tie her shoe, had fallen behind the entire group, watching from a few paces behind as they bonded.

She couldn't help but feel like the outcast, like Ichigo's approval was what would initiate her into this aspiring evil-fighting team. If that was the case then Makoto was nearly certain that she would be that awkward girl in the background, a part of the team but not a valued member. Her anger flared for a moment, mind coursing along reasons as to how or why this happened to her, and the hairs on her arm stood on end. She could feel her face becoming flushed with vexation as her hands fisted tightly by her sides. She caught Ichigo glance quickly at her curiously before he regarded her with a more skeptical once-over. Makoto probably would have said something to him if Rukia hadn't announced their arrival to Urahara's shop.

The plan was simple and had been devised as such; every day after school the group would trek over to Urahara's shop to train. The first three hours would be conducive towards aptly learning how to handle and treat a sword. The second three hours would be more aimed towards awakening their powers and putting their newly harnessed sword tactics to use.

Makoto looked up at the building and sighed, trying to build up some encouragement. She imagined herself like Mulan; a woman thrusting herself in a place where she was reckoned unwanted to prove that she could produce a viable source of protection for the ones that she loved. She smiled. Suddenly it didn't seem so bad. Mulan was kind of a badass, not to mention she _totally_ got the guy in the end. Makoto's fist clenched now more in positivity and inspiration as she walked with the group into the building. Bring on day one!

* * *

Urahara sighed. It was day four and they'd hardly managed to make any progress awakening their powers. One good thing was that the girls were surprisingly adept with their swords—they explained something about millions of years ago, a stone sword, the moon, some battle…but still no movement on the power front. Physically, however, with the use of their swords, they'd become quite powerful.

Rei had opted for a bow and arrow on the second day, explaining that her power took the shape of one and she was in the archery club at home. Urahara saw no harm in it, seeing as how Ishida used his Quincy powers in the form of a bow and arrow. That, however, meant that he and the girl would be working together for the first three hours, which caused his ears some grief. Urahara was glad she'd switched, though, because she was actually quite amazing with a bow, better than Ishida he'd dare to say. She wasn't quite as tactically smart but that would come with time.

Ami outshined the rest in tactics. Her ability to assess weak points, discover the components of their power, and formulate defensive and offensive maneuvers actually impressed him. She was nowhere near as good as he was, Urahara internally gloated, but then again, not many were. Ami's biggest problem was that she was shy with a sword. Capable, sure, but not willing to work her hardest to inflict damage on someone she knew. Based off of her description of her powers that didn't surprise him much. Ami, he could tell, harnessed quite a lot of strength that she refused to put to use. If she would only tap into that, Urahara believed that she would shock the others as the most efficient and powerful of the group.

Makoto…was a case study. She was strong, there was no doubt about that. Her martial arts skills were impressive, near Ichigo's skill level, but when tempted or frustrated all of that training morphed into sheer brutality. She was good with a sword, better than Ami but less fluid than Minako, but seemed to space out a lot. She had a disturbing mindset never to give up, which Urahara both liked and was worried by solely because of the fact that her body was able to push itself through a beating. Not to mention the growing despise between her and Ichigo was blatantly apparent. When he'd pulled her aside and asked her about it one night after training, she merely shrugged her shoulders and told Urahara to "ask _him_."

Minako was the best with a sword. She handled it nearly effortlessly and Urahara took it upon himself for the first two days to refine her natural talent. It was like she and Makoto switched places when it came to sword abilities and martial arts. She was pretty good, but Makoto obviously would have the upper hand against her in hand-to-hand combat. She seemed to get a long with everyone and was the obvious leader of their group. Not in the fact that she reigned best in all abilities, but the fact that when the time came to it, she simply exuded authority. Outside of the battlefield, however, he would dare to call her nearly dim.

For the past couple of days, when it came to power work, Minako had been training with Ichigo, Ami had been training with Ishida, Rei was battling the combined effort of Orihime and Sado, while Makoto battled Rukia. Nobody was getting anywhere.

Urahara growled in frustration. His hand clenched tightly on his cane as he watched them battle. That's all they were doing; they battled but they didn't fight. "Stop!" he yelled. Each person froze, semi-tired gazes looking up to his, surprised. "This is ridiculous," he said. "None of you are actually trying to hurt the other one."

Rei looked confused, trying to catch her breath. "But," she took a deep breath, "but we don't want to seriously injure each other," was her reply.

Urahara turned to her. "You said that the only way to awaken your powers to put yourselves in extreme amounts of danger. If you aren't trying to _kill_ each other then this entire thing is moot!" he tightly replied. "I'm starting to think you girls don't even have powers." The fact that they hadn't even produced one lick of power yet made his statement slightly true, besides the fact that he could just _barely_ feel something there. He was really starting to believe that his mind was starting to make things up. His words evoked the reaction he'd hoped for when they all glared at him with different levels of despise. "It's time to switch partners," Urahara announced, pointing to Rei. "You work with Uuryu. You," he said, pointing to Minako, "will work against Sado, Orihime, _and_ Rukia." Minako gaped at him as he turned to Makoto. "You will work with Ichigo." The blonde haired man watched as Ichigo tried to insist that he was fine working with Minako but he waved off his protests. "And you," he said, pointing to Ami, "will be working with _me_."

* * *

Their bows were raised, aimed for the heart. Rei's mind was a whir of contradictions. Should she truly aim to hurt him? Sure they fought, even more intensely than she and Usagi usually bickered, but she by no means actually wanted to pierce his flesh with her arrow. He had discarded his Quincy bow and opted for a powerless one like hers, for the time being at least. Both of their strings were taut, finger quivering with the desire to release, to feel the air blow by their faces as an arrow shot forth. But they simply stood their ground, staring each other down.

"It's your choice, Rei," she heard him say.

What he meant by that she clearly did not understand as she cocked her head to the side. His indication that she was the one holding the cards was beyond her. Perhaps he was trying to get into her head, to make her shoot off the first arrow. She shrugged her shoulders and complied, letting one arrow go and reaching quickly for another as she watched him deftly dodge. Before he had a chance to even stand back up, another arrow was flying in his direction. He managed to deflect it with his bow but by that time she was already in a dead sprint towards him. He managed to dive out of the way of her first kick and delivered a powerful thrust of his own foot towards her shin. She leapt above it and after landing, spun on the tip of her toes, aiming a roundhouse kick to his lowered head. Reaching up, Ishida grabbed her thin ankle and lifted himself to his feet, taking her leg with him.

He, expecting her to fall to the ground, was thoroughly surprised when she didn't, her flexibility permitting her leg to rise almost to her ear. Rei grinned. "8 years of yoga."

Ishida smirked as he palmed her sternum. "Yoga this." He shoved her chest and Rei, unable to keep her balance, fell to the ground, gracefully contorting it into a back summersault. But he'd pounced upon her before she could even rise from the ground. His arm reared back to hit her in the face—and he would have, if he hadn't have hesitated. For some reason the thought of hitting a girl, one that wasn't seriously trying to hurt him at least, did not bode well with him. In his brief moment of mental clarity, Rei, not necessarily debating the same morals, elbowed him in the nose followed by a swift knee to the gut.

With a grunt Ishida rolled away from her, standing and placing a hand to his nose. When his fingers pulled away they were wet with his own blood. He had to admit, he was glad she'd done that…because now those morals, those conflicting ideologies he'd been debating, dissipated. He would now have no qualms about hitting her.

She approached him again and deftly jabbed at his face. His speed, however, increased two fold and he snatched her arm, twisting it behind her back and slipped her head in his bow, the string effectively putting her in a chokehold. She'd seen it coming, however, and was quick enough to place a hand to her neck, keeping her fingers between the cutting bite of the bowstring and her neck. That didn't necessarily reduce its pain much, however.

He roughly struck her in her back and Rei gasped as her knees buckled. Her shoulder seared with pain, still being held at an odd and very painful angle by his hand. In desperation she flung her head backwards, successfully connecting with his nose again and he staggered backwards, dropping her to the ground.

Rei spun quickly in her knees, pulling out an arrow and knocking it…only to come face to face with a speeding shimmering light aimed directly for her heart.

* * *

Minako watched her three attackers carefully. They'd surrounded her in a triangle of doom, either waiting for her guard to slip or formulating a plan based on aggravating her by not moving. Or so she thought, based on the welling impatience inside of her. But she kept calming herself, knowing that rushing into a battle would only quickly put her on the defensive end. She would devise her own plan while they tested the fortitude of her guard.

Suddenly one of them moved and Minako ducked instinctually, a fierce beam of power shooting over her head. And before she knew it a sword was reigning down on her as Rukia cut deftly and expertly towards her jugular. Minako parried just in time and contorted her body so as to doge another blast of power from Sado's arm.

Rukia jumped away from her and did some strange hand movements Minako didn't understand and said some words she couldn't hear. Before she knew it, however, she was hit by a powerful blast that knocked her backwards. She groaned as the dust settled, recognizing the coppery taste that infiltrated her mouth. It was no time to rest, however, as Rukia appeared like magic from the dust, sword raised and prepared to strike.

Minako rolled out of the way, standing and ignoring the pain in her body. She blocked the blow and parried with a swift one of her own, effectively pushing Rukia back. While the smaller girl was still stumbling, Minako aimed a kick at her chest, only to pull her foot back quickly as something that looked like a missile aimed to injure her leg. She looked over to Orihime who stood the farthest away from her and looking bashful.

Her senses tingled and Minako contorted her body again, dodging a blow by Sado and just barely escaping a swipe from Rukia. Blood trickled from a new wound in her forehead, the tip of the short girl's sword grazing her skin. She sprung backwards from the pair of them and realized that once again she was trapped in a triangle.

Sado's arm reared back again, Orihime shouted something incoherent, and Rukia's sword formulated a deadly array of ice. All sound drowned from her ears as the reality of the situation hit Minako. They really weren't playing around, they truly meant to hurt her.

As Senshi they'd never really fought to maim before, their sparring usually solely hand to hand. Only rarely did they use their attacks on each other. This situation, however, was not conducted in that manner. Here, she was not a Senshi. Her impending doom loomed over her head as three powerful attacks searched her out. It all moved in slow motion

All Minako could think to do was to hold out her hands as the three attacks crashed upon her.

* * *

Ami watched Urahara carefully. He stood in front of her, posture comfortable as if he didn't have a care in the world. Not to mention an insufferable smirk was plastered to his lips. She couldn't read his eyes, their calculating deceptiveness hidden well beneath the shadows of his hat.

He toyed with his cane, twirling it back and forth as she watched him closely. She was on her toes, she was ready for anything that he'd throw at her. She tried to plan her moves ahead of time; if he came from her right she'd parry his blow, which he would most likely cut across his body. She knew this only because he carried no sword…but his cane, which he held in his left hand, could easily harbor such an instrument. If that were true then he would unsheathe it from his left and attempt to cut her in one motion. If he came from her left she'd have more time to block his attack unless he struck from above. If he came straight on…

Ami's thoughts went into hyper speed as he moved. His swiftness was such, however, that she could not see him. Luckily the ground was made of incompact dirt, which, with her quick eye, allowed her see his footprint. As soon as her mind registered that he was coming straight on Ami darted foreword, monitoring his footsteps in the dirt and calculating the point at which they would meet. She'd already racked up the height of the longest possible length of his sword and at what point she would need to duck.

When that point approach Ami fell to the ground and slid as if she were going for a base. A brief flash of sliver glinted above her head, snatching a few loose strands of her hair. Ignoring how close she'd come to being struck in the head Ami used her momentum and sprung to her feet, immediately administering a kick that missed.

His speed was still to quick for her but Ami had already made a plan for that. When she'd slid, she'd picked up two handfuls of the dirt. Immediately she threw one handful of dirt into the air to her right and backed away. Her mind swiftly noticed how a thin strip of it blew even farther to her right. The movement had been from his sword cutting through the air, just barely missing her. Therefore he was on her left.

Ami threw the second handful of dirt to her left, watching as he sputtered for a moment before she struck with her sword. She hit air and was immediately struck on her temple.

Her vision became blurry and all Ami remembered was something silver aimed towards her stomach before it erupted it a geyser of heat.

* * *

Makoto watched Ichigo carefully from her position across from him. She stood ready, muscles tired though taut with preparation as she readied herself for battle. She recalled what Rukia had told her over the past few days about sword use and tried to exemplify preparedness. Ichigo stood across from her, his ready position abandoned as he watched her with a mixture of emotions battling across his features. His face became a mottled blend of anger, worry, and pity as his eyes shifted from her to Urahara in different shades of distaste. With one last admonishing glance towards the man in the hat, Ichigo brought his eyes to Makoto's ready form. Her anger flared when he still hadn't even raised his sword.

"I don't want to fight you," he said. It wasn't a dramatic, 'please, don't let's do this, I don't want to fight you,' sort of thing but something more along the lines of a harsh rejection. Makoto felt like she was five again and being told on the playground that the other little brats didn't want to play with her. The way he said it made her feel unworthy of even his beating.

She shook her head adamantly and gripped the hilt furiously. Her hair had been falling in pieces from her ponytail over the course of the day and hung wistfully in front of her eyes. His admonition was just another jab at her patience and added to her mounting frustration. "Just raise your sword, you prick, who cares if you want to do it or not."

It was like Ichigo could feel her anger rising like the temperature. It made him uncomfortable and his body urged him to fight her, to put her down and quell the raising fires that made him so uneasy. His mind, however, was still aware of the fact that she _was_ a part of their team, no matter how much his unprovoked despise urged him to put her down. Ichigo shook his head slowly and placed his sword on his back. "No," he said with finality as he turned to walk away. He was doing it for her own good, for the good of the group.

With a loud growl of aggravation Makoto threw her sword to the ground. Ichigo regarded her like a child throwing a tantrum as the dirt rose around her feet. She glared at him with fiery green eyes, cheeks flushed with fatigue and, whether she liked to admit it or not, from holding back the burning tears that were edging into her eyes. "Then fight me like a man, dammit!" Her rage soared and Makoto felt like this entire journey had morphed into a colossal waste of time and energy. "I have traveled a _dimension_ away from my home, from the one person to disband all preconceived notions about me and welcome me with open arms, from the _one_ person I have vowed my entire LIFE to protect!" Makoto was nearly shivering with resentment. "If you think that I'm going to let you waste my time and the energy I've put into bettering myself so that she will be alright then you are _sadly_ mistaken!" She slipped slowly back down into her ready position, fists ready for hand-to-hand. Ichigo turned fully to face her, mind holding her in a different regard while his body still ached to make her bleed. "So get ready," she finished, "because I'm coming whether you like it or not."

* * *

Soooo it's been awhile! I had a pretty hectic summer and needless to say schools been twice as hectic as that. But here's another chapter, a little blander than the others but definitely setting up for more fun stuff next time. I just want to thank you all for such kind reviews, they really are what motivate me to keep writing these things. Hope you like! Until next time!


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